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In this course we will recapitulate the historical developments that have taken place in terms of race and ethnicity in the U.S. during the 20th and 21st century. The Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, the Chicano Movement, and the presidency of Barack Obama will be of special interest to us as backgrounds for examining ways in which American writers have engaged with ethnic identity and race relations. All students are asked to purchase the following three books:
- Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (Harper Perennial Modern Classics, ISBN-10: 0060838671, ISBN-13: 978-0060838676),
- Philipp Roth, The Human Stain (Vintage, ISBN-10: 9780099282198 ISBN-13: 978-0099282198),
- Ana Castillo, The Guardians (Random House Trade Paperbacks, ISBN-10: 0812975715, ISBN-13: 978-0812975710).
A reader containing additional primary texts as well as background material will be available after the first class meeting.
Module XVII students, in addition to completing the readings mentioned above, will be asked to present one of the following works to the seminar: Jean Toomer, Cane; Bernard Malamud, The Assistant; Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon; Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior; August Wilson, Fences; Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony; Luis Valdez, Zoot Suit; Chang-Rae Lee, Native Speaker. |
