So why is this blog called “Synthesis”?
Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis
Used in the analysis of historical and philosophical progress, the “thesis-antithesis-synthesis” idea centers on the idea that there is a thesis (proposition), followed by an antithesis (negation of the proposition), that culminates into an eventual synthesis (reconciling conflict between two propositions, forming a new proposition). It’s often attributed to Hegel despite apparently being developed by neo-Kantian Johann Gottlieb Fichte.
It’s a simple idea, perhaps exemplified most often in politics. There are periods of liberalism and conservatism that alternate until they can come together and find a workable middle ground. This flow and sway of opinions and ruling parties and intellectual currents and societal trends can be seen in many fields in humanities, if not all: history, anthropology, politics, and aesthetics.
In Asian American history, the often combative thesis/antithesis of APA isolationism and assimilation may eventually give way to a synthesized coexistence. The “synthesis” left to be explored is how the two extremes can be reconciled and applied to the state of present-day Asian American youth. It’s something that demands contradictions, come from the mouth of someone who doesn’t want to lose her cultural heritage but simultaneously looks for a solid identity in another country. I just hope you won’t see them as hypocrises, but more so as attempts to find a workable middle ground. 