Gene luen yang autobiography vs biography
American Born Chinese
73 pages • 2 hours read
Gene Luen Yang
Gene Luen Yang
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in
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Background
Authorial Context: Gene Luen Yang
According to the author biography available in the novel, Gene Luen Yang is a cartoonist and a teacher. Yang was born in California after his parents emigrated from Taiwan to the United States. Though there is no indication that American Born Chinese is autobiographical, readers can infer that Yang draws on his own past experiences as a student, a teacher, and an American-born Asian boy to create the plot line of American Born Chinese. His awareness of the emotional realities of growing up “other” may have had a significant influence on his development of the character of Jin Wang.
Yang’s interest in the spiritual world—as evidenced by the presence of the deities, the character of Tse-Yo-Tzuh, and the moral message of the novel—reflects his Catholic faith. In an interview with Image Journal, Yang describes his mother finding a sense of community in a Catholic church in California, which led to her conversion to Catholicism and to Yang’s upbringing in a Chinese Catholic community. (Mitchell, Mary Kenagy. “A Conversation with Gene Luen Yang.” Image Journal, no. 95, ) In Catholicism, like other Christian religions, honesty and service are important values. These values are reflected in many of the actions and words of different characters in the novel, including the Monkey King’s son, who poses as Wei-Chen to fulfill his sacred duties; and Wong Lai-Tsao, who is famous for his kindness and compassion toward strangers.
Cultural Context: Cartoonist Gene Luen Yang is having a good year. His most beloved masterpiece, American Born Chinese, which began as a xeroxed and stapled series hand-sold at comics conventions and became the first graphic novel finalist for the National Book Award, is now, seventeen years after its release, debuting as a Disney+ TV show starring Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan.
American Born Chinese has been a staple of my syllabus in almost every comics class I’ve taught. It’s the graphic novel that teaches the lesson of form: the best comics do things that only comics can do. ABC’s formal innovation, most notably the satirical use of stereotypes to skewer the white American gaze, explores the tensions of assimilation and the paradoxes of identity experienced by so many immigrant groups in America. But true comics obsessives (like me) know that Yang’s oeuvre exceeds ABC, and it’s epically vast: his first books, self-published under the imprint Humble Comics, won him a Xeric Foundation grant in Prime Baby (); Boxers and Saints (); Dragon Hoops (); the collaborative works The Eternal Smile (), Level Up (), Secret Coders (), and others; along with his writing for Avatar: The Last Airbender, Superman, his most recent Books of Clash, and other superhero and adventure comics, all build a legacy that delights in variations on nerdery and everyday heroism. Yang is a MacArthur Fellow, a recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award, a National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and a many-time Eisner and Harvey Award winner.
Given these accomplishments, it’s hard not to dwell on how humble he remains. Yang, now fifty, taught high school computer science for seventeen years, and he has four children of his own. Born and bred in California, he often cites his OG Bay Area cartoonist community as an essential influence. He lives in the town where his parents—an electrical engineer from Taiwan and a programmer who grew up in Taiwan and Hong Kong— Gene Luen Yang
American graphic novelist (born )
In this Chinese name, the family name is Yang.
Gene Luen Yang (Chinese: 楊謹倫; born August 9, ) is an American cartoonist. He is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of graphic novels and comics, at comic book conventions and universities, schools, and libraries. In addition, he was the Director of Information Services and taught computer science at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California. In , Yang joined the faculty at Hamline University as a part of the Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults (MFAC) program. In , the U.S. Library of Congress named him Ambassador for Young People's Literature. That year he became the third graphic novelist, alongside Lauren Redniss, to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.
Early life
Yang believes he was born in either Alameda or Fremont, California. He is the child of an electrical engineer from Taiwan and a programmer who grew up in Hong Kong and Taiwan, both of whom emigrated to the United States. They met at the San Jose State University Library during graduate school. He has a younger brother. He grew up in a Catholic family, and his parents instilled in him a strong work ethic and reinforced their Asian culture. In a speech at Penn State, where he spoke as a part of a Graphic Novel Speaker Series, Yang recalled that both of his parents always told him stories during his childhood.
Yang was a part of a small Asian-American minority in his elementary school. He grew up wanting to be an animator for Disney. In third grade, he did a biographical report on Walt Disney, which is where he says his obsession started. This changed in fifth grade when his mother took him to their local bookstore where she bought him his first comic book, issue 57 of the Superman ser
Gene luen yang parents Author and Illustrator Gene Luen Yang on His Graphic Novel "American Born Chinese"
Gene Luen Yang writes, and sometimes draws, comic books and graphic novels. American Born Chinese — a memoir about growing up as an Asian American — became the first graphic novel to win the American Library Association’s Printz Award and a National Book Award finalist. His two-volume graphic novel Boxers & Saints won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award finalist. His other works include Dragon Hoops, the Secret Coders series (with Mike Holmes), The Shadow Hero (with Sonny Liew), New Super-Man from DC Comics (with various artists), and the Avatar: The Last Airbender series from Dark Horse Comics (with Gurihiru) and Superman Smashes the Klan (with Gurihiru).
In , Yang was named the 5th National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and selected as a MacArthur Fellow.
Cartoonist Gene Luen Yang is having a good year. His most beloved masterpiece, American Born Chinese, which began as a xeroxed and stapled series hand-sold at comics conventions and became the first graphic novel finalist for the National Book Award, is now, seventeen years after its release, debuting as a Disney+ TV show starring Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan.
American Born Chinese has been a staple of my syllabus in almost every comics class I’ve taught. It’s the graphic novel that teaches the lesson of form: the best comics do things that only comics can do. ABC’s formal innovation, most notably the satirical use of stereotypes to skewer the white American gaze, explores the tensions of assimilation and the paradoxes of identity experienced by so many immigrant groups in America. But true comics obsessives (like me) know that Yang’s oeuvre exceeds ABC, and it’s epically vast: his first books, self-published under the imprint Humble Comics, won him a Xeric Foundation grant in Prime Baby (); Boxers and Saints (); Dragon Hoops (); the collaborative works The Eternal Smile (), Level Up (), Secret Coders (), and others; along with his writing for Avatar: The Last Airbender, Superman, his most recent Books of Clash, and other superhero and adventure comics, all build a legacy that delights in variations on nerdery and everyday heroism. Yang is a MacArthur Fellow, a recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award, a National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and a many-time Eisner and Harvey Award winner.
Given these accomplishments, it’s hard not to dwell on how humble he remains. Yang, now fifty, taught high school computer science for seventeen years, and he has four children of his own. Born and bred in California, he often cites his OG Bay Area cartoonist community as an essential influence. He lives in the town where his parents—an electrical engineer from Taiwan and a programmer who grew up in Taiwan and Hong Kong— American graphic novelist (born ) In this Chinese name, the family name is Yang. Gene Luen Yang (Chinese: 楊謹倫; born August 9, ) is an American cartoonist. He is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of graphic novels and comics, at comic book conventions and universities, schools, and libraries. In addition, he was the Director of Information Services and taught computer science at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California. In , Yang joined the faculty at Hamline University as a part of the Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults (MFAC) program. In , the U.S. Library of Congress named him Ambassador for Young People's Literature. That year he became the third graphic novelist, alongside Lauren Redniss, to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. Yang believes he was born in either Alameda or Fremont, California. He is the child of an electrical engineer from Taiwan and a programmer who grew up in Hong Kong and Taiwan, both of whom emigrated to the United States. They met at the San Jose State University Library during graduate school. He has a younger brother. He grew up in a Catholic family, and his parents instilled in him a strong work ethic and reinforced their Asian culture. In a speech at Penn State, where he spoke as a part of a Graphic Novel Speaker Series, Yang recalled that both of his parents always told him stories during his childhood. Yang was a part of a small Asian-American minority in his elementary school. He grew up wanting to be an animator for Disney. In third grade, he did a biographical report on Walt Disney, which is where he says his obsession started. This changed in fifth grade when his mother took him to their local bookstore where she bought him his first comic book, issue 57 of the Superman ser Gene Luen Yang writes, and sometimes draws, comic books and graphic novels. American Born Chinese — a memoir about growing up as an Asian American — became the first graphic novel to win the American Library Association’s Printz Award and a National Book Award finalist. His two-volume graphic novel Boxers & Saints won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award finalist. His other works include Dragon Hoops, the Secret Coders series (with Mike Holmes), The Shadow Hero (with Sonny Liew), New Super-Man from DC Comics (with various artists), and the Avatar: The Last Airbender series from Dark Horse Comics (with Gurihiru) and Superman Smashes the Klan (with Gurihiru). In , Yang was named the 5th National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and selected as a MacArthur Fellow. Gene Luen Yang
Early life
Author and Illustrator Gene Luen Yang on His Graphic Novel "American Born Chinese"