＜日本語＞
AALA 10周年フォーラム
日時：1999年10月11日～12日
会場：シーパル須磨＆神戸女子大学
シンポジューム：“Interracial Encounters in Asian American and Other Ethnic Literature”
基調講演：King-Kok Cheung (UCLA)
司会：小林富久子
コメンテイター：村山瑞穂、長畑明利
詩と映像の夕べ：
Poetry Reading：Russell C. Leong (UCLA) 司会：山本秀行
ヴィデオ鑑賞：Robert A. Nakamura監督 “Conversation with Frank Chin”
日米フォーラム：“Past, Present and Future of Asian American Studies”
司会：野崎京子
講師：Russell C. Leong、植木照代
コメンテイター：King-Kok Cheung
＜English＞
10th Anniversary Forum
Theme: Interracial Encounters
Date: Monday and Tuesday, October 11-12, 1999
Place: Hotel Sea Pal Suma (Oct. 11) & Kobe Women’s University (Oct. 12)
The First Day October 11 (Monday)
Place: Hotel Sea Pal Suma
1:30-2:00 Registration
2:00-2:15 Opening Speech: Teruyo Ueki (Kobe Women’s University)
SESSION
2:15-3:15
Keynote Lecture: Interracial Encounters in Asian American and Other Ethnic Literatures
Chair: Fukuko Kobayashi (Waseda University)
Speaker: King-Kok Cheung (UCLA)
3:15-3:30 Coffee Break
3:30-4:00 Comments
Commentators:
・Mizuho Murayama (Aichi Prefectural University)
・Akitoshi Nagahata (Nagoya University)
4:00-5:00 Questions and Answers
5:00-7:00 AALA 10th Anniversary Party
Chairs: Chitoshi Motoyama (Kyoto University of Foreign studies) & Mitsu Yoshida (Matsuyama Uhiversity)
8:00-10:00 An Evening of Poetry and Images
Chair: Hideyuki Yamamoto (Kobe University)
Poetry Reading: Russell C. Leong (UCLA)
The Second Day October 12 (Tuesday)
Place: Kobe Women’s University
8:00 Breakfast
9:00-9:30 Moving from Hotel Sea Pal to Kobe Women’s University
SESSION
9:30-11:30 U.S.-Japan Forum: “Past, Present & Future of Asian American Studies”
Chair: Kyoko Nozaki (Kyoto Sangyo University)
Speakers:
・Russell C. Leong (UCLA)
・Teruyo Ueki (Kobe Women’s University)
Commentator: King-Kok Cheung (UCLA)
11:30-12:30 General Meeting
Chair: Taeko Inagi (Kyoritsu Women’s University)
12:30-1:50 Luncheon
Chair: Yasuko Kawarazaki (Aoyama Gakuin University)
1:50-2:00 Closing Speech: Mie Hihara (Kyoto Women’s University)
AALA 10th Anniversary Forum (1999/10/11)
＜Opening Speech＞ UEKI Teruyo (President of AALA)
On behalf of the Asian American Literature Association, it is a great pleasure for me to express a few words of welcome and thanks to those who are here at this memorable occasion to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our association.
The AALA was formed in 1989 with four founding members, and for the past ten years, it has grown into a body with a membership of nearly 100. It is still a small organization, but it has taken a leading role in introducing Asian American literature into academic as well as general circles in Japan.
Our activities in recent years have been increasingly international with various exchanges conducted from both sides of the Pacific. Quite a few of our members have enjoyed opportunities of attending conferences across the Pacific or being invited to American institutions as visiting scholars, while a number of Asian American writers and scholars have made frequent visits to Japan. We are particularly happy and honored, this year, to have Professor King-Kok Cheung of UCLA and Mr. Russell Leong, the distinguished editor of Amerasia Journal, as our special guest speakers for this anniversary forum called “Interracial Encounters.”
When we inaugurated the publication of the AALA Journal five years ago in 1994, Mr. Russell Leong sent us a congratulatory message, in which he mentioned the poems written by early Chinese immigrants and carved out by them on the barrack walls of the Detention Center at Angel Island. These poems have now been gathered and translated into English, and published as a poetry book entitled lsland.
Quoting from this poetry book, Mr. Russell Leong introduced in his message one line, which reads: “As a traveler in wind and dust… I crossed to the end of the ocean.” In tune with this poet’s sentiment, Mr. Leong expressed his wonder of human endeavour ever migrating across the oceans, saying “Eighty years later, these early lines of Asian American literature have crossed the Pacific again to become material for scholars of Asian American literature in Asia… Their words will now travel, electronically, from memory to modem in your journal.”
Today, however, I should say words do not travel from memory to modem through electronic devices, but they travel through human contact from person to person. I hope all of us participating in this forum can enrich our experiences through new encounters and expand our vision through the treasure of words we meet in person.
While preparing for the forum, I was wondering what kind of design would be suitable for the poster to announce our forum, “Interracial Encounters.” I couldn’t think of anything particularly interesting; so I called Ishihara sensei, asking whether she had any good idea. She said, “Come to my house and take a look at the design books on mandala.” So, I went, but we couldn’t find one that really tapped our imagination. Then, we began to thumb through the design books on quilt, which Ishihara sensei’s mother uses for her quilt making. And there it was! We found a quilt design called “Double Wedding Ring.” It was explained joined rings symbolize everlasting love. This ring image beautifully fitted into the image we were looking for. It reminded me of two writers: M.H. Kingston and Alice Walker. Kingston mentions, in her book, The Woman Warrior, of the image of roundness such as round moon, round table, round windows, and roundness of events, which are deeply imbedded in Asians’ consciousness and cultures, while Alice Walker brings out, in many of her works such as Meridian, Color Purple, and “Everyday Use,” the image of human bondage, solidarity, and cultural continuity, strengthened through circles of people, especially of women making quilts. We thought that the combined image of quilt and ring would symbolically bring out the theme of “Interracial Encounters.”