Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Prerequisites

Two subjects in Literature or History.

Description

Although this class starts by critically examining the term “ethnic” as it defines a wide range of cultural forms over time, we will focus mostly on contemporary writers. Questions to consider will include: How has ethnic writing changed American culture and renovated forms of literary expression? What are the varieties and nuances of what we might call an ethnic subjectivity? What could it mean to harbor fugitives within the self: transgressive thoughts or a “foreign” identity? And what is the future of “ethnic” literature in a global space?

This seminar will address a number of authors: Dion Boucicault, Sandra Cisneros, Samuel Delany, Junot Díaz, Louise Erdrich, Mohsin Hamid, Mia Heavener, Brendan Jacob Jenkins, Mohja Kahf, Jhumpa Lahiri, Toni Morrison, Ruth Ozeki, and Art Spiegelman. Students will also have a chance to take advantage of the MELUS (Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States) conference, sponsored by the Literature Section in April, 2017, which will bring writers and scholars of ethnic literature to MIT.

Required Texts

Jacobs-Jenkins, Branden. An Octoroon. Dramatist's Play Service, 2015. ISBN: 9780822232261.

Morrison, Toni. Jazz. Reprint edition. Vintage, 2004. ISBN: 9781400076215.

Díaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Reprint edition. Riverhead Books, 2008. ISBN: 9781594483295. [Preview with Google Books]

Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor's Tale. Box set edition. Pantheon, 1993. ISBN: 9780679748403.

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. Vintage, 1991. ISBN: 9780679734772.

Lahiri, Jhumpa. Unaccustomed Earth. Reprint edition. Vintage, 2009. ISBN: 978030727825.

Kahf, Mohja. The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf. PublicAffairs, 2006. ISBN: 9780786715190.

Delany, Samuel R. Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand. 20th edition. Wesleyan, 2004. ISBN: 9780819567147. [Preview with Google Books]

Erdrich, Louise. The Round House. Reprint edition. Harper Perennial, 2013. ISBN: 9780062065254. [Preview with Google Books]

Hamid, Mohsin. The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Harvest Books, 2008. ISBN: 9780156034029.

Ozeki, Ruth. A Tale for the Time Being. Penguin Books, 2013. ISBN: 9780143124870. [Preview with Google Books]

Grading

Disclosure

You may find material in the readings for this class disturbing. These texts include racial and sexual violence, offensive language, cruelty, and human suffering. I cannot predict what material may affect someone experiencing stress or what will upset people for other reasons. If you are concerned or uncertain about this course, please review the course materials and decide whether you want to continue taking it.