Chapter 8
Critical Race Theory and Multiethnic Literature of the United States
Christina Hsu Accomando,
Christina Hsu Accomando
Search for more papers by this authorChristina Hsu Accomando,
Christina Hsu Accomando
Search for more papers by this authorBook Editor(s):Gary Totten,
Gary Totten
Search for more papers by this authorFirst published: 14 December 2023
Abstract
Race and ethnicity infuse the study of multiethnic literature of the United States as categories that shape identity, oppression, and resistance. Critical race theory—developed by legal scholars and intersecting with the humanities—offers vital lenses for examining the role of race in US law and literature. Multiethnic US literature provides salient examples from the eighteenth century to the present of the social construction of race and its material consequences. Racism as intersectional finds rich illustration in US literature by women of color, where reproductive and sexual labor is examined within the contexts of racialized and gendered violence. Critical race theorists invoke poetry and storytelling alongside statutes and court cases as a deliberate tool to write into the silences and lies of dominant narratives. They invigorate the genre of legal writing and center voices from the margins.
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