In this course we will examine literary and cinematic reflections upon the national self and the immigrant other. The theoretical point of departure for this examination centers around the entrenched relationship between nation and narration as discussed by literary critics such as Homi Bhabha. Do immigrants and their cultures fit in the national narrative? How can the nation be re-written and re-imagined to accommodate an assortment of voices and experiences? Many of the texts and films of this course challenge what the renowned Latin Americanist Doris Sommer has termed "foundational fictions" of the nation. Amid the friction often occasioned by differences, immigrant communities in the Americas and Europe have increasingly striven to define themselves and their relationship to their host nations as an alternative to nationalist political rhetoric which often portrays them in highly restrictive, often exclusionary ways. Along with theoretical texts, the readings for this course include works by Milton Hatoum, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Nelida Pinon, Sandra Cisneros, Firoozeh Dumas, Jhumpa Lahiri and Chang-Rae Lee. Films include My Beautiful Launderette, Raising Victor Vargas, His Secret Life and Mi Vida Loca. Format: seminar. Requirements: active class participation, two oral reports, one 5-page paper and a 15-page final research paper. Prerequisites: one 300-level literature or theory course, or permission from the instructor. No minimum enrollment (expected: 15).

Hour: VARGAS