“Contemporary Histories/Competing Histories”:
Multicultural Literature in America
English 4760, Fall 2002
Instructor: John C. Goshert
Office: GT 619c
Office Hours: MW 2:00-3:30 and by appointment
Phone: 863-6288 e-mail: jcgoshert@hotmail.com
Required Texts, in order of assignment
(to be purchased—among other places—in the UVSC bookstore)
Ishmael Reed. Mumbo Jumbo. Scribner, 1996.
Toni Morrison. Song of Solomon. Plume, 1987.
Maryse Condé. I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem.
Scribner, 1994.
Sherman Alexie. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.
Harper Perennial, 1994.
Charles Johnson. Middle Passage. Plume, 1991.
Peter Bacho. Dark Blue Suit. U of Washington, 1997.
Faye Myenne Ng. Bone. Harper Perennial, 1993.
Additional fiction and critical works will be assigned by way of handouts
and reserve materials. See the UVSC electronic
reserve site for downloads; hard copies will also be available for brief
checkout.
Course Description and Summary of Assignments
This course will examine post-1970 American literature from a number
of different ethnic perspectives. In addition to reading a set of novels
and short stories we will also deal with some of the major and minor analytical
strategies taken by critics of multi-ethnic literatures. In organizing
this course, I decided to focus primarily on works that revisit the complex
relationships between contemporary experience and various ethnic, colonial,
postcolonial, and generational histories. These works will not be representative
of any group, ethnicity, gender, geographic location, or the like—rather,
they encourage readers to see American history as especially, and problematically,
imbricated in ethnic experiences and ethnic histories.
Class periods will be devoted to discussions of readings, exploring critical/historical
contexts, and developing the strategies for becoming informed respondents
to the texts. Plan to attend (and attend to) class every day.
Attendance and participation will factor into your final grade.
Short response/reaction papers will be due each Monday. These MLA formatted
papers will be about 2 pages in length and will address any topics you find
significant in the reading.
Each student will make a presentation that relates to and expands upon course
readings and topics.
Response Paper Guidelines
The response paper is, primarily, a forum in which you can express
your opinion on a text, its contexts, its effect on you, etc.; however, you
are by no means excused from forming a cogent, well-written argument.
The best responses are often those that take on a specific topic from lecture,
class discussions, presentations (or, of course, from your own reading alone),
and then work that topic out in some detail. That is, avoid trying
to fit an entire week's reading—or an entire novel (or other text)—into your
response, since this leaves you with such a broad scope that any detailed
examination is rather difficult.
Avoid simply summarizing the text and, instead, argue for a particular position,
for a particular “reading.” Your treatment of whatever topic you choose
will be enhanced not only by a cogent argument, but also by your incorporation
of specific material from the text; that is, present details, such as dialogue
or other citations from the text. This is in keeping with that old
adage of “showing” rather than “telling” as you work out your argument/position.
Consider also, addressing questions you have about the reading—perhaps centered
on a scene, event, character, etc. How do specific questions or parts
of the novel/essay/poem inform the significance of the whole? You may
also think about developing connections between works—how do formal characteristics,
topics, characters, etc. resonate across historical periods, across national
and/or ethnic boundaries? How are those characteristics treated differently
and why?
These are simply preliminary remarks/guidelines. Feel free to drop
me an e-mail if you have other questions that need to be addressed here,
or bring questions to class.
Presentation Guidelines
Consider selecting a date (topic, author, period, ethnic group, etc.)
for your presentation that you can later use as a base for developing your
term project.
Presentations may be made either by individuals or by a panel of two people—plan
to take about 15 minutes per person for a relatively formal, prepared presentation,
and bring to the class interpretations (which could include supplemental
material) that has not been, at least in significant detail, discussed.
Focus on the reading for the day—as with the response papers, avoid trying
to talk about the entire work in a short amount of time—and have follow-up
questions or discussion topics prepared for after the presentation.
One effective (I'll resist saying necessary!) strategy for presentations
is to incorporate outside (critical, literary, cinematic) material that has
not come up in class. Regardless, you must at least present a significant
expansion of specific topics/arguments that have come up in class.
For example, if you do a presentation on Chin, consider developing the context
of his work for the class. Among other possible topics on Chin, consider
the ways in which his work (such as his 1972 play, The Chickencoop Chinaman,
which was the first play by an Asian American to be produced on Broadway)
plays a significant role in the history of American theatre, in Chinese American
literature and in contemporary Asian American literature generally—why? what
has the long term effect of Chin's work been on American literature?
To pose another Chin example, the critical treatment of Chin (as a public
figure and as a creative writer) experienced a sea change in the mid-1980s,
and Chin's reputation suffered a major blow—again, why did this happen? describe
the "sides" that have been drawn around Chin's work, etc. What does
Chin himself have to say about the (past or present) state of Asian American
literature and Asian American literary studies?
Whatever you do, take a trip to the library!
Again, let me know by e-mail or in class if you need more direction on the
presentations generally, or if you'd like suggestions for a particular topic.
Grade Distribution
Response Papers (30%)
Presentation (20%)
Term Project (30%)
Attendance and Participation (20%)
Tentative Schedule of Assignments
August
21 Course Introduction
23 Banks and Kelley: “Guess Who’s Coming to Academia?”
(handout)
Mumbo Jumbo ch. 1-11
26 Mumbo Jumbo ch. 12-25
28 Mumbo Jumbo ch. 26-41
30 Mumbo Jumbo ch. 42-51
September
2 no class
4 complete Mumbo Jumbo
6 Paravisini: “Mumbo Jumbo and the Uses of Parody”
(reserve)
9 Frank Chin and Jeffery Chan: “Racist Love” (reserve)
Chin: “Railroad Standard Time” (reserve)
11 Chin: “Sons of Chan” (reserve)
13 Chin: “This Is Not an Autobiography” (reserve)
16 Song of Solomon ch. 1-2
18 Song of Solomon ch. 3-4
20 Song of Solomon ch. 5-6
23 Song of Solomon ch. 7-10
25 complete Song of Solomon
27 Favor: “Discourses of Black Identity: the Elements of
Authenticity” (reserve)
Film: Coonskin (dir. Ralph Bakshi 1974)
30 continue Coonskin
October
2 complete Coonskin
4 I, Tituba Part I
7 I, Tituba Part II, ch. 1-12
9 complete I, Tituba (including Epilogue)
11 Scarboro’s “Afterword” in I, Tituba
14 no class
16 Hall: “Histories, Empires, and the Post-Colonial Moment”
(reserve)
18 Lone Ranger and Tonto 1-82
21 Lone Ranger and Tonto 83-138
23 Lone Ranger and Tonto 139-180
25 complete Lone Ranger and Tonto
28 Middle Passage 1-70
30 Middle Passage 71-119
November
1 Middle Passage 120-167
4 complete Middle Passage
6 Johnson: “Exchange Value” and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”
(reserve)
8 Goellnicht: “Asian American Literature as Theory” (reserve)
11 Dark Blue Suit 1-64
13 Dark Blue Suit 65-102
15 complete Dark Blue Suit
18 Bone ch. 1-6
20 Bone ch. 7-9
22 Bone ch. 10-11
25 complete Bone
27 no class
29 no class
December
2 Excerpt from Rat Bohemia (reserve)
4 Conclusion
9 Final Period (11 am): last time to turn in Term Project
and other appropriate materials