Jiang, Tsui-fen

Tsui-fen Jiang is Professor in the English Department at National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Washington. She was co-editor of Taiwan Journal of English Literature and has published papers on American ethnic drama, post-colonial drama, feminist drama, and contemporary Taiwanese drama.

THE AMERICAN DREAM IN AFRICAN AMERICAN, ASIAN AMERICAN, AND HISPANIC AMERICAN DRAMA:
August Wilson, Frank Chin, and Luis Valdez

2009 0-7734-4656-7
This study examines the significance of the American dream in American ethnic drama. In August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, Frank Chin’s The Chickencoop Chinaman, and Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit, the African American, Chinese American, and Hispanic American playwrights rearticulate the definition of the American dream for American minority peoples—to rectify their internalized distorted self-image, to implant self-esteem, and to earn the due respect from whites and others. These plays also call for a coalition or solidarity within and among minority groups to struggle against socio-economical exploitation and racial discrimination.