p. 542). Works to consider include (but are not limited to) Sherman Alexie’s
Reservation Blues (1995), Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima (1972), Ana
Castillo’s So Far from God (1993), Kiana Davenport’s Shark Dialogues (1994),
E. L. Doctorow’s Loon Lake (1980), Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban
(1992), Chitra Divakaruni’s Mistress of Spices (1997), Toni Morrison’s Song
of Solomon (1977), Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day (1988), and Charles Johnson’s
Middle Passage (1990).- In his introduction to MultiAmerica (1996) Ishmael Reed challenges readers
to imagine “a new, inclusive definition of the common [American] culture” that
takes into consideration cultural, racial, and ethnic differences. He writes: “I
think that a new definition of a common culture is possible, and that because
of their multicultural status, Latinos, African Americans, and Asian Americans
with knowledge of their own ethnic histories and cultures as well as those of
European cultures are able to contribute to the formation of a new, inclusive
definition.” Students might consider engaging Reed’s proposition by analyzing
works by ethnic Americans. How does the particular work contribute to “a new,
inclusive definition” of American literature? How does the work insist upon a
broader definition of American identity that includes racial and ethnic differ-
ence? Another way to approach this topic would be to focus on the forms and
narrative techniques that ethnic American writers use. A common feature is the
use of multiple forms and genres in a single work. As Maria Lauret notes in the
introductory essay to Beginning Ethnic American Literature (2001), “frequently
autobiography functions as theory, prose is shot through with poetry and song,
narrative is also (counter-) historiography. Linguistic mixtures occur too, most
obviously in the bilingual texts of Chicano/a writers, but also when African
American writers make use of the black vernacular as a ‘native tongue,’ or when
Asian Americans and Native Americans intersperse their English with words
and phrases from their first language.” How do writers use these techniques
and mixtures to challenge and revitalize monocultural definitions of American
literature and identity? How does form express cultural hybridity? In analyzing
a work, consider whether a writer is calling for the inclusion of ethnic American
writers as part of mainstream America or is challenging the very defination of
America.
RESOURCES
Primary Works
Asian Women United of California, ed., Making Waves: An Anthology of Writings
by and about Asian American Women (Boston: Beacon, 1989).
Collection of fiction, poetry, and essays by fifty-three women, representing the
diversity of Asian American writers whose cultural roots are in China, India,
Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, and other Asian countries. Also included
are a useful timeline of events important to Asian American history and essays
tracing historical and social contexts.