Asia is a Western notion. Etymologically it is theorized to have come from a Hittite word meaning “Northwest Anatolia” which was eventually borrowed into Greek from where it spread throughout Europe. From its root, it inherently comes from the perspective of the West looking East. Asia is not a concept born out of Asia.

This idea of “Asia” eventually found its way to the U.S. where it became a racialized concept denoting everyone hailing from the massive continent of Asia as they imagined it. Especially East Asians would form the popular imagination of what an Asian was, as their presence in both population figures and culture was much greater than other Asian ethnicities.

East Asians

What results from this attitude over time is the acceptance of that label by the East Asians in the U.S. The power of being constantly perceived as Asian by others was so strong that East Asians began to perceive themselves as simply Asian rather than their particular ethnic identities. It is not uncommon to hear East Asians or those who are identified as having East Asian features to identify themselves firstly as “Asian” before their ethnic identity. This is the basis for the Asian-American identity.

It is also not uncommon to see these Asian-Americans being proud of that identity, as well as identify commonalities amongst themselves. It makes sense of course, East Asian cultures have historically tended towards culturally assimilating themselves to Chinese Confucian culture, leading to similar values and cultural ideas. The problem however is that this identity is built on a foundation that holds East Asia as Asia as a whole.

In the US, a major consequence is the homogenization of what Asian cultures are, as they are defined in the dictionary: Cultures originating from the continent of Asia. The hegemony of East Asians over the term “Asia”, and the coherence of that identity amongst them leads onlookers to make a mental connection going from the term “Asia” immediately to “East Asia.”

Mongolians

This poses yet another contradiction for Mongolians-Americans. Because the Mongolian phenotypic features are similar to that of East Asians, Mongolians are also widely perceived as “Asian” by others. In fact, for a time the term “Mongoloid” was used to group the peoples of Asia and Pacific Islands together. Yet, the culture that comes to mind when the term “Asian” is said is completely contrary to the reality of Mongolian culture. It is ironic for Mongolians to be identified with the East Asian cultures that saw them historically as the antithesis to their culture.

As with what happened with the East Asians, the constant perception of being Asian by others, not just from the dominant group in the US now but even other East Asians, has resulted in the adoption of the Asian-American identity by Mongolian-Americans. It is no wonder that Mongolian-Americans who grew up in the US under the framework of an Asian-American identification choose to seek closer ties with those of other East Asian ethnicities.

But to seek closer cultural ties with East Asians does not make sense. Mongolian culture is not rooted in Confucian culture. Mongolian culture is not rooted in sedentary civilization. Mongolian culture at its core is closer to traditional cultures of Central Asia and their history. The concepts of Asia and Asian-American have largely blinded the Mongolian-Americans to their roots and where they seek connection. East Asia is fundamentally different from Central Asia and should not be confused under the homogenizing effects of the term “Asia.“

Alternatives

These are problems which have already been noticed and talked about extensively in the Asian community. However the alternative that they bring up is the further diversification of the term “Asian” in the popular imagination of the US. They see the diversity of the Asian continent, then the homogenization how the word “Asia” is imagined, and seek to bring the two closer together through more representation and more efforts.

But, as demonstrated in the introductory paragraphs, the mere idea of Asia itself is inappropriate and fundamentally was constructed under a Western perspective. Home to such a wide ranging and completely separate cultures, to assign a single label that makes sense is simply impossible.

What I argue for is instead to scrap the entire concept of Asia. There simply should not be a word that refers to the continent of Asia beyond a geographical context. Even then it does not even function properly as a geographic word. The root of the problem we face is that it has extended beyond a geographical term to a cultural and racial one. Instead, regional grouping of the nations inhabiting Asia should be advocated for. There are already well established groupings that have a basis in culture and history such as the previously mentioned East Asia, but also Central Asia or Southeast Asia. This has the benefit of both being useful as being broad enough to be used as basic grouping but specific enough to not lead to illogical cultural groupings.

That being said, this is not to oppose the currently existing Asian-American identity as it currently stands as a grouping of East Asians. Since this Asian-American identity has a historical basis and common experience that ties them together. However, the word at the root, Asia, should not be a word that denotes the identity of an entire continent, because the identities are specific but the word is not.

Last modified on 2022-10-15