Towards Asian/American Time Being Ecologies: Naturecultural Migration/Invasion within Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

To explore the human and nonhuman participation within and construction of Asian/America, this thesis examines how nature and culture intertwine to build landscapes within the transpacific Asian American novel, A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki. The discipline of invasive ecology and the wilderness conservation movement has undergone intensive debate over terminology such as “invasive”, “alien”, “colonizing”, etc. that cannot be separated from the sociocultural circumstances of America throughout the twentieth century. Within Asian American studies, there has been increased engagement with indigenous studies to confront Asian American participation and advancement of settler colonial hegemony within the United States. Furthermore, there has been a move away from the “flyover model” to accouhnt for the Pacific Ocean as a specific space of discursive production within Asian America. Thus, in my reading of A Tale for the Time Being, I pinpoint a Time Being Ecologies reading framework which centers transcorporeal, more-than-human notions of being and non-teleological temporality. Then, I explore the Time Being Ecologies of three broad critical settings of the novel — British Columbia, Japan, and The Pacific — uncovering the interwoven human and nonhuman Asian American existences produced through determinations of invasivity and nativity which are dependent upon capitalism, settler colonialism, and white supremacy. Finally, I advocate for an abundance-oriented, place-based naturecultural understanding of Asian America which acknowledges and pushes against the expansion of settler colonialist structures and the capitalist delineation of invasivity upon foreign bodies. In doing so, we arrive at expansive and interdisciplinary avenues to pursue invasive ecology and Asian American studies alongside naturecultural praxes that can confront the detrimental consequences of the Anthropocene.

Table of Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

Chapter 1: Reading as Time Being ................................................................................................. 9

Chapter 2: Time Being Ecologies ................................................................................................. 25

British Columbia Ecologies .................................................................................................................... 25

Japan Ecologies ...................................................................................................................................... 45

Pacific Ecologies .................................................................................................................................... 54

Chapter 3: Towards Transpacific Asian/American Ecologies ...................................................... 65

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 81

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 86

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	English
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Asian American Studies Environmental Studies Literature, American
Palabra Clave	Science and Technology Studies Transpacific Ecocriticism Invasive Ecology
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Kanesaka, Erica, Emory University
Committee Members	Meighoo, Sean, Emory University Keogh, Carolyn, Emory University

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