ENGLISH 142G: Twentieth Century American Fiction (lecture) Taught by: Stephen Hong Sohn Fall Quarter, 2009-2010 MW 3:15-4:45, Room: 200-030 | As W.E.B. DuBois foretold it, “the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line.” We will be thinking about this “problem” in relation to its representation within American literature both in the 20th Century and well into the 21st, delving into a variety of geographies, contexts, and historical moments, ranging from neo-slave narratives (Charles Johnson’s Middle Passage and Toni Morrison’s A Mercy) to a multiculturally infused science fiction future (Alejandro Morales’s The Rag Doll Plagues). We will also investigate the problematic events of the Japanese American internment (Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor was Divine) and the displacement of American indigenous populations (Louise Erdrich’s Tracks and Sherman Alexie’s Flight). Especially important to our discussion given the “transnational turn” in American Studies will be the question of “place” and “locality” in our studies of identity and racial formation. Moving then to various transnational terrains, we will explore the Caribbean in Junot Diaz’s A Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and the Asia-Pacific in Rattawut Lapcharoensap’s Sightseeing. Other texts include Don Lee’s Yellow: Stories, which takes us to Rosarito Bay, located in a quaint, coastal California region and to Sandra Cisneros’s Woman Hollering Creek: Stories, where we will interrogate issues of the “border.” Our final goal then will be to engage and examine such texts with a critical eye both toward the social contexts represented and to the incredibly imaginative aesthetic techniques that such writers offer to bring their fictional worlds to life. |
Download Syllabus