In this course, we begin by examining the ways in which Asian American feminism and cultural nationalism often are constructed as mutually exclusive projects. For example, in the contentious debates on authenticity in Asian American literature that followed the 1976 publication of Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior, the determination of what constituted "real" as opposed to "fake" Asian American literature often fell along gendered, sexualized lines. We will focus on some of the following topics: memory and history, memory and writing, homophobia and heterosexism, cultural nationalism, feminisms, racial mixture, nostalgia and the "homeland," stereotypes of Asian women in America, and the shifting (il)legal status of Asian immigrant women. Authors may include: Diana Son, Lynda Barry, Jade Snow Wong, Sui Sin Far/Edith Maude Eaton, Maxine Hong Kingston, Fae Myenne Ng, Elsa E'der, Sigrid Nunez, Sara Suleri, Angel Shaw, Nora Keller, and Ameena Meer, Hisaye Yamamoto, and Theresa Hakyung Cha. While our discussions will be grounded in close readings of the texts at hand, we will also read a few critical essays by feminists of color i.e. Kimberle Crenshaw, Norma Alarcon, Elaine Kim, Sauling Wong, Kamala Visweswaran, and Lisa Lowe. Requirements: several reader responses, one short paper, and one longer paper. Prerequisite: a 100-level English course, except 150. Enrollment limited to 25. (Post-1900)

Hour: SEE