Newly discovered works by one of the earliest Asian North American writers.
When her 1912 story collection, Mrs. Spring Fragrance, was rescued from obscurity in the 1990s, scholars were quick to celebrate Sui Sin Far as a pioneering chronicler of Asian American Chinatowns. Newly discovered works, however, reveal that Edith Eaton (1865-1914) published on a wide variety of subjects - and under numerous pseudonyms - in Canada and Jamaica for a decade before she began writing Chinatown fiction signed “Sui Sin Far” for US magazines. Born in England to a Chinese mother and a British father, and raised in Montreal, Edith Eaton is a complex transnational writer whose expanded oeuvre demands reconsideration.
Becoming Sui Sin Far collects and contextualizes seventy of Eaton’s early works, most of which have not been republished since they first appeared in turn-of-the-century periodicals. These works of fiction and journalism, in diverse styles and from a variety of perspectives, document Eaton’s early career as a short story writer, “stunt-girl” journalist, ethnographer, political commentator, and travel writer. Showcasing her playful humour, savage wit, and deep sympathy, the texts included in this volume assert a significant place for Eaton in North American literary history. Mary Chapman’s introduction provides an insightful and readable overview of Eaton’s transnational career. The volume also includes an expanded bibliography that lists over two hundred and sixty works attributed to Eaton, a detailed biographical timeline, and a newly discovered interview with Eaton from the year in which she first adopted the orientalist pseudonym for which she is best known.
Becoming Sui Sin Far significantly expands our understanding of the themes and topics that defined Eaton’s oeuvre and will interest scholars and students of Canadian, American, Asian North American, and ethnic literatures and history.
Details
352 Pages, 6 x 9
ISBN 9780773547223
July 2016
Formats: Paperback, eBook
"A polished and nuanced study that will make an extraordinary intervention into studies of Edith Eaton and scholarship about Asian North American writers. Mary Chapman has done a heroic act of recovery work, and developed a very strong argument about the significance of Eaton's writing." Martha Cutter, University of Connecticut
"A major contribution that will be greeted with great enthusiasm by those familiar with Eaton's work and captivate the attention of new readers." Jean Lutes, Villanova University
“Chapman has performed an exceptional work of recovery … [that] has added 150 uncollected texts by Eaton-more than doubling Eaton’s known oeuvre to over 260 texts. Becoming Sui Sin Far raises pertinent questions about the meaning of citizenship, the crossing of borders, and the fluidity of the physical body and the construction of identity. Questions of race and gender pervade Eaton’s work as well. Those historians who teach the US survey, the Gilded Age and Progessive Era, or courses on race and ethnicity may well find a story or two within this significant collection that will prompt discussion on events past and current.” H-Net Reviews
“The pieces reproduced here persuasively support a number of Chapman’s assertions, offered in a well-written introduction, about the ways Sui Sin Far’s expanded oeuvre should affect our understanding of her as an author and of her work. Taken together, these works are likely to prompt not only greater interest in her writing but also a long-overdue revaluation of her artistry and legacy.” American Literary Realism
“Becoming Sui Sin Far is an impressive achievement in research, recovery, argument, and editing. It will allow scholars of Edith Eaton to reexamine the author’s life and work through an expanded oeuvre that repeatedly crosses boundaries of gender, geography, and genre. The collection will be of interest to scholars working on American women writers, border studies, and the interplay of literary and journalistic writing at the turn of the twentieth century. Chapman advances a strong argument regarding Eaton’s transnational individualism, and the book raises new questions about the various identities Edith Eaton claimed as her own.” MELUS: The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States
“The book offers an intimate portrait of Eaton’s development as a journalist, a stenographer, a writer of fiction and travelogue, and one of North America’s most nuanced commentators on Chinese diaspora, cross-racial affiliations, transnational crossings, race and gender intersections, and mixed race identity during the Exclusion era.” Legacy
“Contained in this collection are outstanding examples not only of Eaton’s work, but also, more broadly, of women’s engagement with print culture. And, through the many characters and narrative voices that appear vibrantly across the spectrum of these pieces, we have a book that presses against the historical image of white Anglo man dominating the turn-of-the-twentieth century North American landscape - and its literature.” Journal of Modern Periodical Studies
Mary Chapman is professor of English at University of British Columbia.
Contents
xi Acknowledgments
xiii Introduction
EARLY MONTREAL FICTION, POETRY,
AND LITERARY SKETCHES (1888-1891)
3 Edith Eaton. “A Trip in a Horse Car.” Dominion Illustrated,
13 October 1888.
7 Edith Eaton. “Misunderstood: The Story of a Young Man.”
Dominion Illustrated, 17 November 1888.
10 Edith Eaton. “A Fatal Tug of War.” Dominion Illustrated,
8 December 1888.
16 Edith Eaton. “The Origin of a Broken Nose.” Dominion Illustrated,
11 May 1889.
20 Edith Eaton. “Robin.” Dominion Illustrated, 22 June 1889.
28 Edith Eaton. “Albemarle’s Secret.” Dominion Illustrated,
19 October 1889.
31 Edith Eaton. “Lines.” Dominion Illustrated, 5 April 1890.
33 Edith Eaton. “In Fairyland.” Dominion Illustrated, 18 October 1890.
39 Edith Eaton. “A Plea for Sad Songs.” Dominion Illustrated,
3 October 1891.
SELECTED EARLY JOURNALISM: Montreal (1890-1896)
43 Unsigned. “A Chinese Party.” Montreal Daily Witness, 7 November
1890.
44 Unsigned. “Girl Slave in Montreal. Our Chinese Colony Cleverly
Described. Only Two Women from the Flowery Land in Town.”
Montreal Daily Witness, 4 May 1894.
47 Unsigned. “Our Local Chinatown. Little Mystery of a St. Denis Street
Laundry.”Montreal Daily Witness, 19 July 1894.
50 Unsigned. “‘No Tickee, NoWashee.’” Montreal DailyWitness, 25 July
1894.
53 Unsigned. “Half-Chinese Children.” Montreal Daily Star, 20 April
1895.
58 Unsigned. “Chinese Visitors.” Montreal Daily Star, 6 July 1895.
59 Unsigned. “Thrilling Experience of a Band of Smugglers in the
Lachine Rapids.” Montreal Daily Star, 9 July 1895.
62 Unsigned. “They Are Going Back to China: Hundreds of Chinese
at the CPR Station.” Montreal Daily Star, 21 August 1895.
64 E.E. “Letter to the Editor: Wong Hor Ching.” Montreal Daily Star,
31 August 1895.
65 Unsigned. “A Chinese Baby. Accompanies a Party Now on Their Way
to Boston.” Montreal Daily Star, 11 September 1895.
67 Unsigned. “Chinese Religion. Information Given a Lady by Montreal
Chinamen.” Montreal Daily Star, 21 Sept. 1895.
69 Unsigned, “A Chinese Child Born. At the Hotel on Lagauchetiere
Street.” Montreal Daily Star, 30 September 1895.
72 Unsigned, “Another Chinese Baby. The Juvenile Mongolian Colony
in Montreal Receives Another Addition - It Is a Girl and There Are
Schemes for Her Marriage.” Montreal Daily Star, 12 October 1895.
73 Unsigned. “Chinese Food.” Montreal Daily Star, 25 November 1895.
74 Unsigned. “Chinamen with German Wives.” Montreal Daily Star,
13 December 1895.
76 E.E. “The Chinese Question.” Montreal Daily Star, 16 December 1895.
77 Unsigned. “The Chinese and Christmas.” Montreal Daily Star,
21 December 1895.
81 Unsigned. “Chinese Entertainment, at which the Chinamen Did
Their Share of the Entertaining.” Montreal Daily Star, 31 December
1895.
83 E.E. “A Plea for the Chinaman. A Correspondent’s Argument in His
Favour.” Montreal Daily Star, 21 September 1896.
91 Edith Eaton. “The Chinese Defended. ‘E.E.’ Replies to Her Critics of
Saturday and Is Supported by a Brooklyn Doctor.” Montreal Daily
Star, 29 September 1896.
96 Unsigned. “Born a Britisher. But Fifty Dollars Is the Tax on Him as
a Chinaman.” Montreal Daily Witness, 27 October 1896.
SELECTED EARLY JOURNALISM: Jamaica (1896-1897)
101 Fire Fly. “The Kingston Races. First Day. Descriptive Sketch.” Gall’s
Daily News Letter, 16 December 1896.
103 Fire Fly. “The Kingston Races. Second Day. Descriptive Sketch.”
Gall’s Daily News Letter, 17 December 1896.
105 Fire Fly. “The Firefly and Rum.” Gall’s Daily News Letter,
23 December 1896.
106 Fire Fly. “Fire Fly’s Christmas Budget.”Gall’s Daily News Letter,
24 December 1896.
111 Fire Fly. Excerpt from “The Woman about Town: The Horse Car,
Sarah Bernhardt.” Gall’s Daily News Letter, 30 December 1896.
113 Fire Fly. “The Girl of the Period: The Projectographe, Jamaica
Lawyers.” Gall’s Daily News Letter, 13 January 1897.
116 Fire Fly. “The Departure of the Royal Mail.” Gall’s Daily News Letter,
21 January 1897.
119 Fire Fly. “The Girl of the Period: The Theatre.” Gall’s Daily News
Letter, 28 January 1897.
121 Fire Fly. “The Girl of the Period: At Alpha Cottage.” Gall’s Daily News
Letter, 2 February 1897.
125 A Canadian Fire Fly. “The Girl of the Period: A Veracious Chronicle
of Opinion.” Gall’s Daily News Letter, 8 February 1897.
127 Fire Fly. “The Girl of the Period: At Church.” Gall’s Daily News
Letter, 16 February 1897.
130 Fire Fly. “The Union Poor House.” Gall’s Daily News Letter,
26 February 1897.
131 Fire Fly. “Our Visitors: Myrtle Bank.” Gall’s Daily News Letter,
5 March 1897.
135 Fire Fly. From “Woman’s Gossip: Don’t Tax Bicycles, Civil Service
Examinations.”Gall’s Daily News Letter, 17 March 1897.
135 Fire Fly, “Another Pleasure Party. Mr. John Jacob Astor.” Gall’s Daily
News Letter, 5 April 1897.
SELECTED LATER FICTION (1896-1906)
141 Sui Seen Far. “The Gamblers.” Fly Leaf (February 1896).
143 Sui Seen Far. “Ku Yum.” Land of Sunshine (June 1896).
148 Sui Seen Far. “The Story of Iso.” Lotus (August 1896).
151 Sui Seen Far. “A Love Story of the Orient.” Lotus (October 1896).
157 Sui Seen Far. “A Chinese Feud.” Land of Sunshine (November 1896).
161 Sui Seen Far. “The Daughter of a Slave.” Short Stories
(January-March 1897).
166 Sui Seen Far. “Sweet Sin: A Chinese-American Story.” Land of
Sunshine (April 1897).
171 Edith Eaton. “Away Down in Jamaica.” The Metropolitan (19 March
1898).
180 Sui Sin Fah. “The Smuggling of Tie Co.” Land of Sunshine (July
1900).
185 Sui Sin Far. “Woo-Ma and I.” The Bohemian (January 1906).
CROSS-CONTINENTAL TRAVEL WRITING (1904)
201 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing of Los Angeles on His Travels.” Los Angeles
Express, 3 February 1904.
204 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing of Los Angeles on His Travels.” Los Angeles
Express, 4 February 1904.
206 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing of Los Angeles on His Travels.” Los Angeles
Express, 5 February 1904.
208 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing on His Travels.” Los Angeles Express,
6 February 1904.
209 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing of Los Angeles on His Travels. Part 5.” Los
Angeles Express, 10 February 1904.
211 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing of Los Angeles on His Travels.” Los Angeles
Express, 24 February 1904.
213 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing in Montreal.” Los Angeles Express,
27 February 1904.
215 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing in Montreal.” Los Angeles Express,
9 March 1904.
216 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing in Montreal.” Los Angeles Express,
12 March 1904.
218 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing on His Travels.” Los Angeles Express,
25 May 1904.
223 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing in New York City.” Los Angeles Express,
9 June 1904.
225 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing in New York City.” Los Angeles Express,
14 June 1904.
227 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing on His Travels.” Los Angeles Express,
5 July 1904.
230 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing on His Travels.” Los Angeles Express,
8 July 1904.
233 Wing Sing. “Wing Sing on His Travels.” Los Angeles Express,
20 July 1904.
APPENDICES
239 A Unsigned. “A Visit to Chinatown.”New York Recorder,
19 April 1896.
247 B Biographical Timeline for Edith Maude Eaton
251 C Chronological Bibliography of Works by Edith Eaton
Index
Winner
Susan Koppelman Award for the Best Anthology, Multi-Authored, or Edited book in Feminist Studies in Popular and American Culture
Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association (PCAACA)
(2017)
Co-winner
Dr. Edgar Wickberg Book Prize for the Best Book on Chinese Canadian History
Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC (CCHSBC)
(2018)