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That's rather an ambitious title, isn't it? W.E.B. Dubois might be the most respected African-American intellectual, and "The Souls of Black Folk" might be his
by johan_larson 8y ago
That's rather an ambitious title, isn't it? W.E.B. Dubois might be the most respected African-American intellectual, and "The Souls of Black Folk" might be his finest work. Yang is setting the bar rather high for himself.
- nkurz 8y agoDid you intend "ambitious" to be sarcastic? Given the content, it feels parallel calling Dubois "uppity": https://uppitynegronetwork.com/what-is-an-uppity-negro/ https://uppitynegronetwork.com/what-is-an-uppity-negro/ In the Paper Tigers essay, much time is spent condemning the highly regulated degree of ambition deemed appropriate for Asian Americans. Yang consciously rejects this, and wants the freedom to aim higher. From his Paper Tigers essay (and partially requoted in the article) he references James Baldwin: I wanted what James Baldwin sought as a writer —“a power which outlasts kingdoms.” Anything short of that seemed a humiliating compromise. I would become an aristocrat of the spirit, who prides himself on his incompetence in the middling tasks that are the world’s business. Who does not seek after material gain. Who is his own law. This, of course, was madness. A child of Asian immigrants born into the suburbs of New Jersey and educated at Rutgers cannot be a law unto himself. I think it's fair to describe those who seek "a power which outlasts kingdoms" as "ambitious". The question is whether current American society treats this degree of ambition by Asian Americans the same as it does those of other races.
- shliachtx 8y agoGP is not commenting on the ability of an Asian-American to write or think on par with W.E.B. DuBois, but that the presented body of work is not necessarily a parallel to The Souls of Black Folk. As other commenters have mentioned, this book does not exclusively discuss the role of Asian-Americans in American culture and society, apparently being relegated to a few essays. For a book which proclaims to be about "The Souls of Yellow Folk" - invoking DuBois's book, this does indeed seem a little ambitious.
- jhowell 8y agoI think the comment questions the clickbait title and not necessarily the content.
- johan_larson 8y agoI am not being sarcastic. By choosing the title he did, the author is setting himself up for comparison with a really famous work, and I have to wonder whether that was wise. It was, to say the least, bold. Would I have reacted differently to something similar done by someone who is not Asian? Hard to say; I can't interrogate my mind with complete reliability from the inside. But believe the answer is no, I would have reacted the same way regardless of the race of the author.
- nkurz 8y agoI agree that it's a bold title, and agree that the the collected essays probably aren't going to measure up to the historical standard. But I think this is central to Yang's thesis that the standards of behavior are different for Asians in America than they are for others. For me, I think the title choice works because it calls attention to the fact that Asian American culture is not particularly open to the strategy of aiming really high and being likely to fail, and instead favors targeting a more modest level of success that can be attained with greater likelihood. Braggadocio and overconfidence are not considered typical traits. Yang's title is high-risk high-reward high-likelihood-of-failure, and I do find my self surprised (in what is likely a racially biased manner) that an Asian American male would choose such a brazen title. That I have this thought (as a non-Asian Amerian) makes me suspect that Yang is on to something.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- magic_beans 8y ago> Yang is setting the bar rather high for himself. That's precisely the point!