"Chinese American Literature since the 1850s traces the origins and development of the extensive and largely neglected body of literature written in English and in Chinese, assessing its themes and style and placing it in a broad social and historical context. This volume, shows how change and continuity in the Chinese American experience are reflected in the writings of immigrants from China and their descendants in the United States.". "A core text for students and scholars of Asian American studies, Chinese American Literature since the 1850s is a resource for literary critics, historians, sociologists, and anthropologists interested in diaspora studies, transnationalism, cultural studies, race and ethnicity, and the immigrant experiences in which Chinese American literature is embedded."--BOOK JACKET.