Course details
Name: ENGL - 274
Title: CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE OF IMMIGRATION
Section: 01
Semester: Fall - 2024
Credits: 3
Description:
Addressing questions of immigration in the contemporary U.S. feels vital, as antipathy toward (at least certain) immigrant groups has become more publically prominent, while immigration never slows down. We must also consider how structural changes inside the United States have altered the space immigrants must negotiate. The believability of the “American Dream” for either natives or immigrants, too, has been compromised. How does this change impact the experience of immigration?
Other concerns come out of considering migration in a theoretically more interconnected world. Globalization is often considered a homogenizing force: how do these texts view this point? Is the U.S. still considered a global “center” or merely a more desirable part of the periphery? In earlier generations, immigrant fictions struggled mightily with questions of assimilation—whether it is a moral good or an evil U.S. demand. Do these concerns still persist today? We will attend to political and economic refugeeism as well as the travails of undocumented entrants.
As this is an English class, our discussions will analyze literary technique and formal textual elements as well as the question of genre posed by the course’s title. Doing so will require attention to form as well as content, and we will also carefully think about the distinction between those two. You will learn—or sharpen your ability—to read closely and at a distance.
Representative writers may include Cristina Garcia, Edwidge Danticat, Dinaw Mengestu, Junot Diaz, Geoffrey Eugenidies, Joseph O’Neill, Jhumpa Lahiri, Gary Shytengart and many more.
Last updated on 2024-03-11 By
Gonzalez Jeffrey (gonzalezje)
Schedule: Tuesday,Friday From 8:00 am To 9:15 am
Graduation requirements:
- Any Literature (1e)
- Genre Study (Fiction)
- Other American (TE 1d)
- Post-1900 (1d)
- Ethnic Studies (3b)
- Women and Gender Studies (3c)
- World Cultures (TE 7a)
Teaching Faculty: Gonzalez Jeffrey (gonzalezje)
Is course canceled: No