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What is Ethnic Literature?
- 1. What is EthnicLiterature?
- 2. What does “ethnic”mean? “of or relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background.” (Webster’s Dictionary)
- 3. Ethnic classifications Hispanics orLatinos are being classed according to language (Spanish) more so than “race.” African-Americans are being classed according to race. Asian-Americans are classed according to race, but often also subdivided according to national origin.
- 4. Ethnic classifications White Americansare usually considered ethnic only in terms of strong national or religious identifications i.e. Italian, Jewish Native Americans are usually classified by tribe, but sometimes by race as indigenous or native peoples
- 5. Ethnic Classifications There canalso be regional identifications--New Yorkers, Californians, locals Both regional and national identifications can be strengthened by moving away from the group--when they are dominant they are often taken for granted.
- 6. Ethnic identifications Linguistic, andcultural identifications are weakened through exposure to a dominant alternative culture as members of ethnic groups become assimilated. The following poem by Pat Mora describes this process:
- 7. Immigrants Wrap their babiesin the American flag, feed them mashed hot dogs and apple pie, name them Bill and Daisy, buy them blonde dolls that blink blue eyes or a football and tiny cleats before the baby can even walk, speak to them in thick English hallo, babee, hallo
- 8. Immigrants whisper in Spanishor Polish when the babies sleep, whisper in a dark parent bed, that dark parent fear, “Will they like our boy, our girl, our fine american boy, our fine american girl?”
- 9. What is Literature? ImaginativeWriting Stories, novels Autobiography poems, song lyrics, chants plays Films We will include novels, stories, poems, film and a play
- 10. So what isethnic literature? Literature in which the protagonists or, in the case of poetry, the speakers, are conscious of being members of a group of people sharing a common and distinctive racial, national, religious, linguistic, or cultural heritage. I define it by subject matter rather than the ethnic background of the author.
- 11. Who writes “ethnic”lit? Members of ethnic groups can write literature that is not “ethnic” People who are not part of a specific ethnic group can write ethnic literature about that group but this may raise difficult questions about authenticity. For the most part I try to choose works written by “insiders.”
- 12. Generic characteristics ofethnic literature Recurrent themes (list follows) Hybridization mixture of styles and genres mixture of traditions from different cultures Presence of a culture bearer-older character who passes on traditions and wisdom Consciousness of a double audience- insiders from own culture and outsiders from dominant culture multi-lingual incorporation of visions, dreams or other supernatural elements
- 13. Themes of ethnicliterature Experiences of prejudice, discrimination, or racism generational conflicts-- particularly between immigrant parents and their American-born children or grandchildren, nostalgia for or struggle to recover a lost ethnic identity, pride in and celebration of one’s heritage versus shame and discomfort at being different,
- 14. Themes of ethnicliterature The feeling of being caught between two worlds. Conflicts between “American” values and “ethnic” values, The conflict and convergence of differing ethnic traditions.
- 15. Native roots andhybridity We will start with two novels that deal with both native American spirituality and traditions and the experience of hybridity. The Plague of Doves Louise Erdich The Hummingbird’s Daughter Luis Urrea The first is set in the United States and the other is set in Mexico.
- 16. Poems and afilm We will also read poems by Native Americans and by Latinos before beginning each novel We will watch the film Smoke Signals And we will see a play UchinaAloha
- 17. The African AmericanHeritage We will continue with Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (20th century novel about a young man driven to explore his family’s past) We will also watch the play (on film) The Piano Lesson by August Wilson in which a family in the 1930’s copes with the legacy of slavery We will conclude this section with African American poems
- 18. Becoming American Next wewill read two novels in the sub- category of American ethnic literature called immigrant literature Typical American by Gish Jen Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee Both novels are written by Asian American women (of Chinese and East Indian ancestry respectively) We will have classes focused on Asian American poems and poems on the immigrant experience more generally