ENG 237 – ETHNICITY & CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN LITERATURE Context
Hurtado
TR 12:45-2:05
In this course, we will critically engage the literary production of different ethnic groups within the U.S.
throughout the twentieth century for cultural, historical, legal, social, and political representations of resistance,
or what Martín Espada describes as an “artistry of dissent.” We will explore how ethnic identity is defined
within these texts, and other spheres of identity that influence subject formation such as gender, race, socioeconomics, and sexual orientation. As a class, we will attempt to master discourses pertinent to studying
“ethnic” literature, specifically, and literature as a whole. We will ask questions such as: how is “ethnicity”
defined in these texts? What is the role of literature in describing the different subject positions these authors
and/or literatures represent? How do these texts define the role of “ethnic bodies” and psyches within sociopolitical contexts? To assist in answering these questions, students are responsible for one research project on
a chosen author from the reading list. Students will also write one mid-term paper on a topic of their choice. In
addition, a unique, original full length final paper that grapples with the concepts we have discussed over the
course of the semester will be due as the semester closes. This course is reading and writing intensive.