English 239bc - Multi-Ethnic American Literature: Borders and Border Crossings
Multi-Ethnic Amer Lit: Borders
Spring
2022
01
4.00
Melissa Parrish
TU TH 9:25 AM - 10:40 AM
Smith College
ENG-239bc-01-202203
Seelye 107
mparrish@smith.edu
What terrain—physically, culturally, and emotionally—do American writers inhabit when they write about
borders? How might thinking about borders, whether literal or metaphorical ones, complicate the way
race, class, and gender inform matters of belonging and citizenship? Using literary and cultural analysis,
this course explores what it means to be, become, or refuse to be “American.” Major course themes
include ethnic subjects and the American Dream, internment and detainment, and the disputed
ownership of land, resources, and persons. Texts studied will include fiction and poetry written by a
borders? How might thinking about borders, whether literal or metaphorical ones, complicate the way
race, class, and gender inform matters of belonging and citizenship? Using literary and cultural analysis,
this course explores what it means to be, become, or refuse to be “American.” Major course themes
include ethnic subjects and the American Dream, internment and detainment, and the disputed
ownership of land, resources, and persons. Texts studied will include fiction and poetry written by a
broad range of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American writers.