Graphic novels; Asian-American lit

Two initiatives employing comics to better literacy have appeared. Read the particulars in the New York Times.

I'm surprised by the debate over the legitimacy of comics in the classroom. Some wonderfully nuanced writing has come out of the medium. Art Spiegelman and his Pulitzer Prize-winning "Maus" is an obvious and perhaps too-oft-cited example.

I would have loved to be introduced to the work of Derek Kirk Kim and Gene Yang during my young pup/high school days studying ethnic literature. Our curriculum had the problematic Amy Tan's "Joy Luck Club" as the sole entry in the Asian-American section (at least at that time -- no idea what it is now). I say problematic because the text is a reductive take on Chinese culture, turning the traditions of a large and varied nation into a homogeneous Orientalism, while portraying the Chinese male as abusive, absent or cheap.

Maybe Kim's Raymond Carver-meets-Judd Apatow mentality is too puerile for the American education system, but at least his stories retain nuance in its depiction of race and gender dynamics. No such reservations can be held about Yang's American Born Chinese, which was nominated for the National Book Award. His story folds in some outstanding thematic threads including Chinese minstrelsy, in the form of the omnipresent Charlie Chan character; the story of the Monkey King and his journey to the west for Buddhist Scriptures; and subtle explorations of Christianity. It's an outstanding work that'll be a part of a true Asian-American canon.

Or if we really want to keep comics out of the curriculum, why don't we just add Frank Chin's Gunga Din Highway to the required reading list. He's our Amiri Baraka, without question.