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CS92PROD
Introduction to Asian American Literature

ENGL 230A
Spring 2022 not offered
Crosslisting: AMST 264A
Course Cluster and Certificates: Asian American Studies

This course surveys how Asia and Asian Americans have figured in the US cultural imaginary from the middle of the 19th century to the present, from Herman Melville's American epic "Moby-Dick" to Ruth Ozeki's comic novel about transnational television, trade, and activism "My Year of Meats." As the choice of these framing texts suggests, we will be exploring two kinds of representations. On the one hand, we will examine the narratives, tropes, and images through which dominant American culture has envisioned its incursions into Asia and the reciprocal movement of Asians into the United States; on the other, we will also explore the ways in which Asian Americans have sought to represent their own varied and uneven encounters with US culture. The course is organized chronologically in order to emphasize the ways in which these cultural artifacts reflect and influence their social and historical contexts. In the latter half of the course, as we enter the period beginning with the 1970s in which Asian American literature becomes an institutional category in its own right, we will add to this historical framework a number of other analytical frames that have emerged from within Asian American studies itself: cultural nationalism; gender and sexuality; postcoloniality; cultural assimilation; and globalization.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA ENGL
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode:
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST)(ENGL)(ENGL-Literature)

Last Updated on NOV-08-2024
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