| Summary: | This paper close-reads Grace M. Cho's memoir Tastes Like War to describe an Asian American subjectivity that is fermented under the pressures of immigration, assimilation, and Americanization. This fermented subjectivity is analyzed through the experiences of Korean military brides like Cho's mother, Koonja, whose integration into U.S. society in the twentieth century exemplifies a specific transformation of the Korean body, its identification, and its use. The fermented subject describes one whose subjectivity holds a past and present form simultaneously, while also remaining expansive and in flux. As such, Asian American assimilation is punctuated by the persistence and resiliency of the fermented subject.
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