Lisa Lowe’s “Power of Culture” is a dense and challenging text. She is interested in the mechanisms through which people are produced as particular kinds of subjects, particularly in relation to the nation-state and dominant national discourses. She challenges us to think about the power of alternative cultural forms (or forms produced by differently located racialized and gendered groups) to reveal something about dominant national culture (and how it operates through inclusion, exclusion, and exploitation, for instance) and the supposedly universal category of citizenship. She focuses in particular on Asian and Asian American experiences in the United States.

For PART ONE of this Discussion assignment, start by choosing ONE of the following questions and reply briefly below. Share one or two quotations from her text that you feel are important, AND share one or two sentences of your understanding and analysis. Be sure to indicate which number you are replying to. You can also share a specific question or confusion you have. 

1) What is her specific argument about dominant national culture (see notes above)? 

2) What is the significance of the public debate over the Vietnam War Memorial for Lowe’s text? 

3) Why are alternative cultural forms important, according to Lowe? 

4) She names Asian American culture as a counter-site to official United States national memory and national culture. And she emphasizes how cultural forms become sites for alternative ways of living, thinking, remembering, and being. Where in the text do you see her making this point? ‘

PART TWO 

After you have submitted your response to one of the questions above, respond to at least one of your classmates. Your response should be approximately 2-4 substantive sentences and should add to and enrich the thinking  your classmate has share. There are a number of ways to do this, including the following:

* Reflect and Add: What do you find interesting or striking about what your classmate has shared? Can you connect it to other moments in the text or to your own interpretation/analysis? Be specific and detailed in your response.

* Ask Productive Questions: You may choose to raise questions your classmate’s post prompts for you about Lowe’s text.. These questions should be focused on Lowe’s arguments, NOT the person who wrote the post. The questions should further our collective thinking, and it may be helpful for you to speculate on possible answers.