Assimilation and Japanese-Americans is such a complicated concept, especially in light of overwhelming pressures to conform from many different sides, from Imperial culture romanticizing "Old Nippon" to the pressure to become "good Americans." It is *still* a complicated problem faced by nisei and sansei, although the face of it has changed.
That lipstick, that smile--it speaks to me of positivity in face of unimaginable difficulty, of trying to stay true to one's cultural values from a country left behind and embrace the values of a country immigrated to.
It's just an amazing picture full of joy and sadness.
no subject
http://www.npr.org/2007/12/20/17335538/weenie-royale-food-and-the-japanese-internment
Assimilation and Japanese-Americans is such a complicated concept, especially in light of overwhelming pressures to conform from many different sides, from Imperial culture romanticizing "Old Nippon" to the pressure to become "good Americans." It is *still* a complicated problem faced by nisei and sansei, although the face of it has changed.
That lipstick, that smile--it speaks to me of positivity in face of unimaginable difficulty, of trying to stay true to one's cultural values from a country left behind and embrace the values of a country immigrated to.
It's just an amazing picture full of joy and sadness.