Ethnicity & American Literature (ENG 393)

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Beginning with late 19th-century discussions of American ethnic identity and those underlying social mores about class, national identity, and gender that are inscribed within it, this course will explore African American, Asian American, Latin American, and Native American literary expression. Reading some theory and the fiction of a wide range of writers, including James Baldwin, Louise Erdrich, Philip Roth, Junot Diaz, and Maxine Hong Kingston, we will focus on how ideas of ethnicity shape narratives as well as how narrative formulas actually inform pervasive myths and stereotypes about ethnic identities.