Frank Chin (1940--)
In Asian American studies today, Chin is as much known for what he referred to early on as his 'badmouth' -- that is, his tendency to pick fights and challenge the output of his peers -- as he is for his original works.
The long preface Chin and his co-editors wrote for Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers, along with the confrontational exchange of letters between Chin and Frank Ching, continue to be widely cited by Asian American literary scholars today. He aimed, in essay after essay and rant after rant, to assert a fundamental distinction between Asian American literature and Asian literature. This was an important point that undeniably needed to be made. But Chin's aggressive attitude is highly problematic -- and his criticisms of women writers and scholars like Betty Lee Sung, Diana Chang, and Maxine Hong Kingston are laced with misogyny.
On this site, I would particularly recommend the exchange of letters between Chin and Frank Ching, the editor of Bridge Magazine, which took place in 1972 and 1973.
Resources related to Frank Chin on this site:
Review of The Chickencoop Chinaman in Bridge 1.6
Exchange of letters between Frank Chin and Frank Ching, editor of Bridge in Bridge 2.2
Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers (1974)
Interview with Roland Winters by Frank Chin in Amerasia Journal 2.1 (Fall 1973)
Asian-American Authors Anthology (1972)
Resources related to Frank Chin Elsewhere:
Entry on Frank Chin (Wikipedia)
Frank Chin's blog (actively being updated -- as of summer 2019)
