Engl. 262

Motooka

Fall 1998

Rice 111

MWF 10:00

Office hrs: MW 2:30-4:00

King 341

Ext. 6585

wendy.motooka@oberlin.edu

Asian-American Literature

This course is an introduction to, not a survey of, Asian-American literature. The material included in this syllabus does not "represent" the full range of the field (no single course could); rather, it has been assembled here in order to focus on particular contexts and theoretical issues that have informed the study of Asian-American literature. "Asian American" is an identity born of racism and nationalism, filtered through history. It is an identity inflected by regionalisms, challenged from within by individual and cultural differences, and revised by each succeeding generation. We will explore this diversity in our readings and discussions over the course of the semester. Our topics will include the race/gender "authenticity" debate; the idea of cultural nationalism; Asian Americans and popular culture; Asian-American identities and World War II; cultural memory, cultural continuity, and nostalgia; and the contentious relation between identity politics and academic disciplines.

Course requirements: Engl. 262 is an introductory level course, intended for sophomore English majors or others who are just beginning the study of literature. Students should come to class each day having prepared the readings listed for that day. Please note that the amount of reading required for each class period can vary significantly; it is your responsibility to read the syllabus in advance in order to budget your time appropriately. There will be three written assignments, a 3-4 pp. paper, a 5 pp. paper, and a final paper of 5-7 pp. Under the College's Honor Code, these essays must be your own work: please do not attempt to submit essays written by or heavily revised by other people. Published sources should be properly cited and not overused. Please consult with me if you have any questions as to what constitutes plagiarism.

Required Texts:

Gotanda, Yankee Dawg You Die
Hwang, M. Butterfly
Kingston, The Woman Warrior
Kogawa, Obasan
Mukherjee, The Middleman and Other Stories
Okada, No-No Boy
Santos, Scent of Apples
Wong, Fifth Chinese Daughter
Yamanaka, Blu's Hanging
Yamanaka, Saturday Night at the Pahala Theater
coursepack (CP)-available at Rice 130

In addition to the required texts, the following works are also on reserve:

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities
Chin, Frank, et al. Aiiieeeee!
Chan, Jeffery Paul, et al. The Big Aiiieeeee!
Kamani, Ginu. Junglee Girl.
Kim, Ronyoung. Clay Walls.
Mori, Toshio. The Chauvinist and Other Stories.
Payne, James Robert. Multicultural Autobiography: American Lives.
Said, Edward. Orientalism.
Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club.
Watanabe, Sylvia. Talking to the Dead and Other Stories.
Wong, Sau-ling. Reading Asian American Literature.
Yamamoto, Hisaye. Seventeen Syllables.

Schedule of Readings

Sept. 2 (W):

introduction

Sept. 4 (F):

Chin et al., preface to Aiiieeeee! (handout)

Sept. 7 (M):

Labor Day

Sept. 9 (W):

Wong, Fifth Chinese Daughter

Sept. 11 (F):

Fifth Chinese Daughter

Sept. 14 (M):

Yamamoto, "Wilshire Bus" (CP)

Sept. 16 (W):

Mori, "The Japanese Hamlet" (CP)

Anderson, "Cultural Roots," "The Last Wave" (CP)

Sept. 18 (F):

Time Inc. & Popular Representations of Asians (lecture & slide show)

Sept. 21 (M):

"Slaying the Dragon" (video)

Sept. 23 (W):

Gotanda, Yankee Dawg You Die

Sept. 25 (F):

Gotanda, Yankee Dawg You Die

Sept. 28 (M):

Kim, "Haesu," in Clay Walls

Sept. 30 (W):

Yom Kippur

Oct. 2 (F):

Okada, No-No Boy

Oct. 5 (M):

No-No Boy

Oct. 7 (W):

No-No Boy

Oct. 9 (F):

Santos, "For These Ruins," "The Day the Dancers Came"

DUE: Paper I (3-4 pp.)

Oct. 12 (M):

Kogawa, Obasan

Oct. 14 (W):

Obasan

Oct. 16 (F):

Obasan

Autumn Recess

Oct. 26 (M):

Yamamoto, "Yoneko's Earthquake" (CP)

Oct. 28 (W):

Santos, "Scent of Apples"

Watanabe, "Anchorage" (CP)

Oct. 30 (F):

Watanabe, "Talking to the Dead" (CP)

Chin, excerpts from "Come All Ye Asian American Writers of the Real and the Fake," pp. 8-18, 84-88 (CP)

Bryant, "To A Waterfowl" (CP)

Nov. 2 (M):

No class

Nov. 4 (W):

The Woman Warrior

Nov. 6 (F):

The Woman Warrior

Nov. 9 (M):

The Woman Warrior

Wong, "Autobiography As Guided Chinatown Tour?" (CP)

Nov. 11 (W):

The Woman Warrior

Nov. 13 (F):

Kamani, "This Anju" (CP)

DUE: Paper II (5 pp.)

Nov. 16 (M):

Mukherjee, selections from The Middleman and Other Stories

Nov. 18 (W):

selections from The Middleman and Other Stories

Nov. 20 (F):

Hwang, M. Butterfly

Nov. 23 (M):

M. Butterfly

Said, "Imaginative Geography and Its Representations" (CP)

Nov. 25 (W):

M. Butterfly

Thanksgiving Break

Nov. 30 (M):

Tan, "Rice Husband" from The Joy Luck Club (CP)

Yamamoto, "The High-Heeled Shoes" (CP)

Dec. 2 (W):

Santos, "Immigration Blues"

Wong, Reading Asian American Literature, pp. 3-55 (CP)

Dec. 4 (F):

Yamanaka, selections from Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre

Dec. 7 (M):

Yamanaka, Blu's Hanging

Dec. 9 (W):

Blu's Hanging

selections regarding the Blu's Hanging controversy (CP)

Dec. 11 (F):

Blu's Hanging

Dec. 14 (M):

concluding thoughts

DUE: Final Paper (5-7 pp.), Wednesday, Dec. 16 by 5 pm.

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