and an extremely general racial similarity, but very little else. That Eurocentric America sees the diverse range of cultures and ethnicities of Asia as a single identity is part of the challenge that Asian immigrants face in finding their identities as Americans. Elaine H. Kim explains the problem in detail:
The term Asian American is intrinsically complex: it focuses all the contending sociopolitical and cultural forces that affect the daily life of Asian Americans. The uncertainties surrounding everyday usages are part of this picture: though Asian American has been gaining increasing acceptance in the public arena, in private most Asian Americans continue to define themselves by reference to the subgroup; in addition, the term may signify "American-born Asians" as well as "persons of mixed Asian and Caucasian parentage" (xvii).
Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn is one of these mixed-parentage Asian Americans who defines herself in reference to a subgroup. She is an American playwright, poet, and author who defines herself by her ethnic background as Filipino, since she was born in the Philippines, though her parents' family trees are both multinational and include Caucasian ancestors. Her family moved to the United States when she was young.
Viet Thanh Nguyen argues that Hagedorn's ethnicity gives her a particularly interesting perspective, different from that of many other Asian writers. Nguyen observes, "The Philippines has been relatively ignored, not even granted the acknowledgment of being a victim of American imperialism . . . [T]he Philippines' obscurity in relation to its prominent role in the development of American imperialism . . . makes it critical" (28). Kim notes that, in much of Hagedorn's writing, "America is portrayed as a country of loneliness, sterility, and paranoia" (225), reflecting the complex historical relationship between Hagedorn's native country and her adopted homeland.
This complexity...