American Literature - Spring 1998

This course will provide an intensive study of the literary innovations of nineteenth-century American poets, as well as the tumultuous cultural context in which they wrote. We will spend about three weeks each on Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, making use of the hypertext archives of each writer's work available on the World Wide Web to explore manuscripts, revision marks, scribbled source notes, and other forms of expression that are less rigidly authoritative and "final" than what we find in the pages of textbooks. In addition to those focal authors, we will also devote a good deal of attention to poets who wielded tremendous cultural influence during their time but who have fallen from canonical grace; to women writers stigmatized as "poetesses"; to writing from outside the publishing centers of the East Coast that responded to the pressing social issues (slavery, expansionism) of the time; to written versions of American Indian songs and African-American spirituals; and to the poetic efforts of writers who are now remembered mainly for their prose. These categories encompass works by Lydia Sigourney, Edgar Allen Poe, Maria Brooks, William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Frances E.W. Harper, John Greenleaf Whittier, Herman Melville, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Sarah Piatt.

For updated information about this course, including required texts and assignments, check the website, which should be operational by the end of February.

http://wwwcatsic.ucsc.edu/~ltam104a

[note: no "." after "www"]

Examination of poetry, short stories, memoirs and novels of a variety of Asian American writers from the 1950s to the present. Examination of these writings against their historic, political and social backdrops, focusing on themes and questions raised regarding gender, class, national origins, the Asian Diaspora, aesthetics and the future of the genre.

1. On-going correspondence with informal reactions and interpretations of readings. Creative responses such as poetry or short fiction are also welcome here. Pages from this correspondence will be reviewed periodically and returned.

2. Short Essay. A well-wrought, thoughtful essay on a topic of choice. Due mid-quarter.

3. Formal Paper. Possibly a paper on the writings of one author or the development of a particular theme through the examination of several writers. Due end-quarter.

Or Creative Work. This may be a short story, series of poems or creative non-fiction based on one's personal family history. Due end-quarter

4. Final Examination.

Week 1: A Literature Is Born (April 9, 14)

• Introduction
• Excerpts from John Okada, No No Boy
• Excerpts from Louis Chu, Eat a Bowl of Tea
• Introductions to The Big Aiiieeeee (Frank Chin), The Open Boat (Garrett Hongo), An Interpretive Companion to Asian American Literature (King-Kok Cheung)

Week 2: Japanese (April 16, 21)

• Hisaye Yamamoto, Milton Maruyama, Lawson Inada
• Wakako Yamauchi, Songs My Mother Taught Me

Week 3: Chinese (April 23, 28)

• Wing Tek Lum, Frank Chin, Li-Young Lee, Russell Leong
• Fae Myenne Ng, Bone

Week 4: Filipino (April 30/May 5)

• Al Robles, Carlos Bulosan, Jessica Hagadorn
• Peter Bacho, Dark Blue Suit

Week 5: South Asian (May 7, 12)

• Indran Amirthanayagan, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Bharati Mukherjee
• Meena Alexander, Manhattan Music

Week 6: Korean (May 14, 19)

• Myung Mi Kim, John Song, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
• Chang-Rae Lee, Native Speaker

Week 7: Southeast Asian (May 21, 26)

• Christian Langworthy, Barbara Tran, Juliette Chen, Trinh T. Minh-ha
• Linh Dinh, ed., Night, Again: Contemporary Fiction from Vietnam

Week 8: Men & Women (May 28, June 2)

• David Mura, Garrett Hongo, Gish Jen, Lois-Ann Yamanaka
• Shawn Wong, American Knees
• or Catherine Liu, Oriental Girls Desire Romance (will read at Kresge 159, May 28, 4pm)
• or R. Zamora Linmark*, Rolling the Rís (will read at Kresge 159, April 30, 4pm)

Week 9: On the horizon & Undefinables (June 4, 9)

• Premonitions
• Karen Yamashita, Tropic of Orange

Week 10: Your Turn (June 11, 16)

• In Class Creative Work , Essays, Papers & Correspondence
• Wrapping it up

(* live author!)

• Alexander, Meena, Manhattan Music. Mercury House, 1997.
• Bacho, Peter, Dark Blue Suit. University of Washington Press, 1997.
• Dinh, Linh, ed., Night, Again: Contemporary Fiction from Vietnam, 7 Stories Press, 1996.
• Lee, Chang-Rae, Native Speaker. Riverhead Books, 1995.
• Linmark, R. Zamora, Rolling the Rís. Kaya Productions, 1997.
• Liu, Catherine, Oriental Girls Desire Romance. Kaya Productions, 1997.
• Ng, Fae Myenne, Bone. HarperCollins, 1993.
• Wong, Shawn, American Knees. Simon & Schuster, 1995.
• Yamashita, Karen Tei, Tropic of Orange. Coffee House Press, 1997.
• Yamauchi, Wakako, Songs My Mother Taught Me.
• Most poetry, short stories & criticism from:
• Chan, Chin, Inada, Wong, eds., The Big Aiiieeeee!: An Anthology of Chinese American and Japanese American Literature. Meridian, 1991.
• Hagedorn, Jessica, ed., Charlie Chan Is Dead. Penguin, 1993.
• Hongo, Garrett, ed., The Open Boat: Poems from Asian America. Anchor Books, Doubleday, 1993.
• Lew, Walter, ed., Premonitions, New York: Kaya Productions, 1995.

Revised 7/13/04.