Studies in Multiethnic American Literature (380-0-20)
Instructors
Jennifer Comerford
Meeting Info
Locy Hall 109: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
From the catchall option "some other race" on the 2020 US Census to the microaggression that is not "where are you from" but rather "what are you?" mixed-race identities are often marked as fundamentally unaccountable in bureaucratic as well as day-to-day encounters. This course explores narratives of multiracial identity from the nineteenth century to the present. We will consider the complicated and often conflicting feelings that frequently inflect multiracial experiences—pride as well as shame, questions of belonging, intergenerational tension, and the anxiety around being accused an imposter, even when claiming one's own identity. Through novels, essays, memoirs, and short stories we will think about multiracial experiences across various historical moments, from the emergence of skin color as the central marker of race in the late eighteenth century to the policing of interracial marriages in the United States to current news media discourses. By centering multiracial and multiethnic perspectives, we will explore a plurality of experiences that resist classification into normative racial categories and consequently highlight the very fictions upon which race is based.
Class Materials (Required)
The Woman of Colour (1808), Sui Sin Far, "Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian" (1909), Nella Larsen, Passing (1929), Justin Torres, We the Animals (2018), Kyle Lucia Wu, Win Me Something (2021), Samira Mehta, The Racism of People Who Love You (2024).
Class Attributes
Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
U.S. Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Pre-registration -- Reserved for English students.