With the “Hear, Here” series, we aim to facilitate conversations around new research in the humanities. Faculty fellows at the Institute for the Humanities will discuss a part of their current project in a short talk followed by a Q & A session.

About this talk:
This talk reclaims Asian racial stereotypes in twentieth-century American media in order to offer a labor history of the performers behind them. Little is known about these performers and their work because these “archives of embarrassment” have been obscured by liberal identitarian desires for the “authentic” or “real” Asian American subject. I argue that these performers’ supporting roles, background parts, walk-ons, and other sundry acting or acting-adjacent jobs produce what I call “Asian American non-stardom,” and that this racialized labor has been foundational to the American entertainment industry.

Melissa Phruksachart is a 2024-25 John Rich Faculty Fellow at the Institute for the Humanitied and Assistant Professor of Film, Television, & Media.