Ethno-Racial Identity Configurations

Ethno–Racial Identity Configurations in American Narratives.
Cross–Cultural Encounters
Instructor: Dana Mihăilescu ([e-mail])
This course investigates different stances of ethno-racial identity configurations and cross-cultural encounters in
American literature throughout time, focusing on the relations between collective and individual memory and trauma, mainstream and minority tensions, as well as ethno-racial and ethical dilemmas. The course looks at identity as a contextually based-fluid category, the result of spaces of negotiation. By examining moments of struggle and power imbalance in the relation between mainstream and minority groups, the course also explores the fundamental role of literature in mourning and historical
“Passing for White, Passing for Black.” The Visual Culture Reader.
Ed. N Mirzo. London: Routledge, 1998. 546–555.
Adrian Piper. “I Am the Locus no.2.” Performance Work, 1975.
Weeks 8: African Americans and Mainstream Identity Configurations [White on Black/Black on Black]
Theoretical, personal essay: Norman Podhoretz. “My Negro Problem–And Ours.” The New York Intellectuals
Reader. Ed. Neill Jumonville. New York: Routledge, 2007. 327–340.
Bernard Malamud. “Black is My Favorite Color.” 1963. American Mix. The Minority Experience in America.
Eds. Morris Freedman and Carolyn Banks. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1972. 186–193.
Aaron McGruder. The Boondocks (1999–2012) [www.gocomics.com/boondocks]
Week 9: Native Americans / Chicanos and Mainstream Identity Configurations
[Native] Oliver La Farge. “The Happy Indian Laughter.” 1955. American Mix. The Minority Experience in
America. Eds. Morris Freedman and Carolyn Banks. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1972. 35–45. [Native Americans]
[Chicana] Sandra Cisneros. “Woman Hollering Creek.” Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories. New
York: Vintage Books, 1991.
Response paper due this week.
Week 10: Contemporary Configurations of Ethnic Identities: Asian-White
Encounters
Aleksandar Hemon. The Lazarus Project (2008) – novel available at Room 4
Draft of the essay due this week. The essay is due within a week.
Requirements and grade assessment:
Students are expected to constantly take part in class discussions and to read the texts on a weekly basis. You are to make one presentation on a specific topic from the literary or theoretical texts included in the reading list and to write a 2-page response paper and a 3–5 page essay. The response paper will consist of a question about the specific construction of ethnic identity configurations in one of the literary texts discussed in class and your answer and comments on this margin. The essay will be based on a topic of your choice from one of the literary texts in the reading list [you can either choose one or several passages and comment upon them or investigate a theme related to ethno-racial identity configurations as rendered in a literary text] (MLA citation style, 12 Times New Roman, double spacing). Plagiarism will be penalized by failure on the assignment and course. Grade breakdown:
Class participation: 20% of final grade
Oral presentation: 30% of final grade
Written papers: 50% of final grade