AAARI Book Talk: "Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendezvous with American History"

Please join the Asian American / Asian Research Institute (AAARI) for a book talk on Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendezvous with American History, by Yunte Huang, on Friday, October 27, 2023, from 2:30 to 4:00 pm PT (5:30 to 7:00 pm ET), online via Zoom. This will be a live online discussion, open to the general public and RSVP is required to attend.

Born into the steam and starch of a Chinese laundry, Anna May Wong (1905–1961) emerged from turn-of-the-century Los Angeles to become Old Hollywood’s most famous Chinese American actress, a screen siren who captivated global audiences and signed her publicity photos—with a touch of defiance—“Orientally yours.” Now, more than a century after her birth, Yunte Huang narrates Wong’s tragic life story, retracing her journey from Chinatown to silent-era Hollywood, and from Weimar Berlin to decadent, prewar Shanghai, and capturing American television in its infancy. As Huang shows, Wong’s rendezvous with history features a remarkable parade of characters, including a smitten Walter Benjamin and (an equally smitten) Marlene Dietrich. Challenging the parodically racist perceptions of Wong as a “Dragon Lady,” “Madame Butterfly,” or “China Doll,” Huang’s biography becomes a truly resonant work of history that reflects the raging anti-Chinese xenophobia, unabashed sexism, and ageism toward women that defined both Hollywood and America in Wong’s all-too-brief fifty-six years on earth.

For more information and to RSVP: https://aaari.info/23-10-27huang/