An Outsider’s Perspective on Asian Canadian Studies: A Response to Donald Goellnicht

It is my great honor to have been invited to respond to Donald Goellnicht’s paper, which delineates the ongoing formation of Asian Canadian studies in ways quite different from those of Asian American studies. Looking at the title of his paper—“Outside the U.S. Frame: Asian Canadian Perspectives”—I have wondered whether perhaps I should call my response as “Outside the ‘Asian Canadian’ Frame: ‘Taiwanese’ Perspectives.” However, I have decided that it makes more sense to respond to the issue of “Asian Canadian” more generally from an “outsider’s” position. After defining this position, I will first discuss the necessity of “Asian Canadian studies” as an institution, and then explain that it is equally productive to see “Asian Canadian” as a diasporic space of communication and of multiple intersections that can be extended outward.