The Life of Paper: Letters and a Poetics of Living Beyond Captivity

328 Pages·2017·16.817 MB·English

by  Sharon Luk

Th e Life of Paper
letters and a poetics of living
beyond captivity
Sharon Luk
university of california press
Th e Life of Paper
The publisher and the University of California Press
Foundation gratefully acknowledge the generous
support of the Ahmanson Foundation Endowment
Fund in Humanities.
Th e Life of Paper
letters and a poetics of living
beyond captivity
Sharon Luk
university of california press
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university
presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing
scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its
activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic
contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit
www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2018 by Sharon Luk
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Luk, Sharon, 1979- author.
Title: Th e life of paper : letters and a poetics of living beyond captivity /
Sharon Luk.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2018] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2017031749| ISBN 9780520296237 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780520296244 (pbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520968820 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Prisoners—California—Correspondence—20th century. |
Imprisonment—California—History. | Chinese Americans—Eff ect of
imprisonment on—California—19th century. | Chinese Americans—
Eff ect of imprisonment on—California—20th century. | Japanese
Americans—Eff ect of imprisonment on—California—20th century. |
African Americans—Eff ect of imprisonment on—California—20th
century. | Prisoners—California—Social conditions—20th century. |
Prisoners—Civil rights—California—20th century. | United States—
Emigration and immigration—History.
Classifi cation: LCC HV9475.C2 L85 2018 | DDC 365/.450923—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017031749
27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Th us, monks, this spiritual life is lived with mutual support for
the purposes of crossing the fl ood and making a complete end
of suff ering.
Itivuttaka 111
american crossroads
Edited by Earl Lewis, George Lipsitz, George Sánchez, Dana
Takagi, Laura Briggs, and Nikhil Pal Singh
contents
List of Illustrations ix
Introduction: Th e Life of Paper 1
part one
detained
1 Th e Inventions of China 33
•
2 Imagined Genealogies (for All Who Cannot Arrive) 51
•
part two
interned
3 “Detained Alien Enemy Mail: EXAMINED” 95
•
4 Censorship and the / Work of Art (Where Th ey Barbed
•
the / Fourth Corner Open 120
part three
imprisoned
5 Ephemeral Value and Disused Commodities 169
•
6 Uses of the Profane 193
•
Epilogue 221
Acknowledgments 229
Notes 235
Bibliography 279
Index 303
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illustrations
1. H. T. Loomis, Practical Letter Writing 2
2. Hong Kong Post’s “Four Great Inventions of Ancient China”
Special Stamp, issued on 18 August 2005 24
3. Anonymous to Hon. J. B. Densmore, 30 October 1917 27
4. Newspaper advertisement for Kennah and Stidger, Attorneys at Law 28
5. Envelope processed through minchu 53
6. Excerpt from Lau Sai Jan to Lau Pock Toon, ca. 6 September 1917
(translation) 56
7. Lau Sai Jan to Lau Pock Toon, ca. 6 September 1917 (original letter) 57
8. Coaching letter #1, ca. 1924 (translation) 62
9. Coaching letter #1, ca. 1924 (original letter) 63
10. Coaching letter #2, ca. 1924 (translation and original letter) 64
11. Coaching letter #3, ca. 1924 (translation) 66
12. Coaching letter #3, ca. 1924 (original letter) 67
13. Yee Fon to sons Louie Kim Sin and Louie Kim Min, ca. 13 March 1918
(translation) 74
14. Yee Fon to sons Louie Kim Sin and Louie Kim Min, ca. 13 March 1918
(original letter) 75
15. Guey Hock to nephews Louie Suey Sang and Louie Suey Wing, ca. 4
March 1918 (translation) 76
16. Guey Hock to nephews Louie Suey Sang and Louie Suey Wing, ca. 4
March 1918 (original letter) 77
17. Excerpt from Wong Sor Gam to Father, ca. 18 December 1916
(translation) 80
ix