Asian American Literature and Its Discontents
ENGL 243
Fall 2008
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
AMST 244, FGSS 346 |
What is so Asian American about Asian American literature? The course will survey Asian American literature from its emergence as first anthologized in Aiiieeee (1974) fueled by the Yellow Power Movement to the various cultural and literary challenges since then posed in terms of gender, sexuality, and colonialism. The class will give a brief overview of Asian American history in the 19th and 20th centuries to contextualize the two centuries of Asian American writing in the United States and how themes have evolved and been challenged through the 21st century. The class will develop close reading skills to interrogate literary (traditional and experimental novels) and filmic texts (melodrama and musical) by and about Asian/Asian Americans to raise questions about form, aesthetics, and the literary market as they relate to the larger project of Asian American studies. These texts offer not only different ways of understanding sexuality, gender, migration, and ethnicity, but also challenge how we ask ethical questions of texts and how we read literature. |
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Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: None |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Maxine Hong Winston, WOMAN WARRIOR
R. Zamora Linmark, ROLLING THE R'S
Bharati Mukherjee, JASMINE
Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, DICTEE
Lois Ann Yamanaka, BLU'S HANGING
Jessica Hagedorn, DOGEATERS
Monique Truong, BOOK OF SALT
Brian Ascalon Rolley, AMERICAN SON
Course Reader including excerpts from:
LITERARY CRITICAL ESSAYS
Chin et all, AIIIEEE (anthology)
Films: MY AMERICA...OR HONK IF YOU LOVE BUDDHA, FLOWER DRUM SONG, JOY LUCK CLUB
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Examinations and Assignments:
Students will submit a total of six 1-page reaction/inquiry papers due on the day's assigned reading(s). Once during the semester, each student will present an aspect of the class session's reading assignment. Grades will be based on a 5-page midterm take home exam, a 10-page final paper, inquiry papers, presentations and active listening and participation in class discussion. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Required film viewings will be scheduled on Tuesdays 6-8. This course fulfills the English Department's Literature of Difference requirement for the English major. |
| Instructor(s): Yang,Caroline H. Times: ..T.R.. 02:40PM-04:00PM; Location: FISK404; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 30 | | SR major: 8 | JR major: 7 | | |
| Seats Available: 12 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 5 | JR non-major: 5 | SO: 5 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 1 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 1 |
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