ETHN 239 — Asian American Literature
This course in Asian American Literature will include poetry, ballads, short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction prose. "Asian" is a broad category that includes, but is not limited to, persons who trace their roots to at least China, Japan, Korea, Burma (or Myanmar), Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hawai'i, the Pacific Islands, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, or Pakistan. Historically, industrialization, technological development, and a rejection of tradition have invoked ideologies of the "Oriental other," "the Yellow Peril," and the "model minority." But the literary works herein challenge such narratives and set the stage to examine an age marked by migration, war, imperialism, (neo)colonialism, and globalization. Students will be invited to read and discuss a variety of texts that represent Asia and the Pacific Islands during and after World War II, and that challenge ideas about the past and present, the traditional and the modern, and "the West" and "the East." Students will analyze the literature and apply critical theory to describe events in the histories, cultures, and intellectual and literary traditions, with special focus on the lived experiences, social struggles, and contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawai'ians, and Pacific Islander Americans in the United States. Note: Also listed as ENGL 239. Not open to students with credit in ENGL 239. (CSU/UC)(AA/AS-3, CSU-C2, IGETC-3B, Cal-GETC-3B)