Department of English

In this course, we will read short stories, drama, poetry, and novels that view post-WWII American history and culture from "marginalized" perspectives.  Our texts explore dislocations of identity experienced by those excluded from the cultural mainstream of this country; these works seek to give voice to the unspoken and the silenced, to make visible the power, and identity.  Addressing the emergence of race, ethnicity, gender, sexualtity, and class as vibrant challenges to literary and cultural consensus, we will also concern ourselves with the peril and promise of the "cultural wars" associated (justly or unjustly) with voices of dissensus.  Authors likely include Jimmy Santiago Baca, Louise Erdrich, Leslie Marmon Silko, Toni Morrison, Jess Mowry, John Okada, Thom Jones, and Grace Paley. Two papers, a quiz-like midterm, and a final exam are likely to be required.