Faces of Immigrant Fatherhood

Faces of Immigrant Fatherhood is an attempt to determine how immigrant families – and immigrant fathers in particular – are portrayed in the late twentieth-century Asian-Canadian diasporic fiction. Through the analysis of three novels – The Electrical Field (1998) by Kerri Sakamoto, Disappearing Moon Café (1990) by SKY Lee, and No New Land (1991) by M.G. Vassanji – this book discusses the aforementioned depictions in the context of different diasporic experiences and problems faced by Asian immigrants in Canada. Highlighting the complexity characterising the concept of fatherhood not only allows a more critical examination of the Western portrayals of immigrant fathers but also provides an opportunity for an in-depth look into the impact migratory experiences – such as immigration and transgenerational trauma, identity crisis, hybridisation, rootlessness, issues with acculturation and assimilation, racism, and longing for homeland – have on the representation of immigrant fatherhood.