Ethnicity and Diversity in American Literature, 1950-2000
Module code: AM2013
Module co-ordinator: Dr Catherine Morley
American and literary studies have been transformed in recent decades by a new emphasis on the work of writers from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and the different perspectives they offer on American culture. At the same time, contemporary writers from such backgrounds have started making a great literary and cultural impact both in the United States and abroad.
In this module you will study a range of ethnic writing - including novels, short stories, and poems - published in the second half of the 20th century. We will examine works by Jewish American and African American writers and examples of Native, Asian and Hispanic literature, and we will look at parallels and contrasts between different ethnic perspectives. We will explore issues of alienation, integration and multicultural identity by considering how writers have responded to their particular cultural circumstances. We will look in particular at literary genre and style and how African, Native, Hispanic and Asian American writers have adapted and/or challenged stylistic and generic conventions for their own purposes.
Topics covered
- Samuel Huntington, ‘The Crisis of National Identity’
- Bill Clinton, ‘The Struggle for the Soul of the 21st Century’
- Randolph Bourne, ‘Transnational America’
- Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
- N Scott Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain
- Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior
- Lorna Dee Cervantes and Alberto Rios
- Toni Morrison, Beloved
- Bharati Mukherjee, Jasmine
Learning
- 11 one-hour lectures
- 11 one-hour seminars
Assessment
- Group project (20%)
- Essay, 2,000 words (30%)
- Exam (50%)