In “When White Poets Pretend to Be Asian” by Hua Hsu and “What a Fraternity Hazing Death Revealed About the Painful Search for an Asian-American Identity” by Jay Caspian Kang?

In “When White Poets Pretend to Be Asian” by Hua Hsu and “What a Fraternity Hazing Death Revealed About the Painful Search for an Asian-American Identity” by Jay Caspian Kang, both authors explore assumptions about Asian-American identity and how our multicultural country has embraced/isolated its Asian-American citizens. Hsu’s essay centers on literary hoaxes. Kang’s essay targets a tragic hazing case. A few times, Hsu uses the simile of a “game” to explain what he is describing: “The only limitation for such an artist, really, is the extent to which it can all be explained away as an avant-garde game if things get too weird.” And “As though it [Hudson’s hoax] were all just a game, meant to be gamed.” Kang refers to “game” once, as far as I can see: “‘We’d play League of Legends’ – a multiplayer computer game – ‘and play handball and eat,’ Yuan said, describing a typical weekend.” Obviously, Kang’s use of “game” is literal . . . but Hsu’s underlying sense of game also exists in Kang’s essay (regardless of explicit references to “game”). Although “game” can convey a sense of unreality or superficiality, I do not intend you to see it in just that way with this question. Think of the phrase “the game of life.” It often carries a serious sense.