A Companion to MultiEthnic Literature of the United States
About this book
Provides the most comprehensive collection of scholarship on the multiethnic literature of the United States
A Companion to the Multiethnic Literature of the United States isthe first in-depth reference work dedicated to the histories, genres, themes, cultural contexts, and new directions of American literature by authors of varied ethnic backgrounds. Engaging multiethnic literature as a distinct field of study, this unprecedented volume brings together a wide range of critical and theoretical approaches to offer analyses of African American, Latinx, Native American, Asian American, Jewish American, and Arab American literatures, among others.
Chapters written by a diverse panel of leading contributors explore how multiethnic texts represent racial, ethnic, and other identities, center the lives and work of the marginalized and oppressed, facilitate empathy with the experiences of others, challenge racism, sexism, homophobia, and other hateful rhetoric, and much more. Informed by recent and leading-edge methodologies within the field, the Companion examines how theoretical approaches to multiethnic literature such as cultural studies, queer studies, ecocriticism, diaspora studies, and posthumanism inform literary scholarship, pedagogy, and curricula in the US and around the world.
- Explores the national, international, and transnational contexts of US ethnic literature
- Addresses how technology and digital access to archival materials are impacting the study, reception, and writing of multiethnic literature
- Discusses how recent developments in critical theory impact the reading and interpretation of multiethnic US literature
- Highlights significant themes and major critical trends in genres including science fiction, drama and performance, literary nonfiction, and poetry
- Includes coverage of multiethnic film, history, and culture as well as newer art forms such as graphic narrative and hip-hop
- Considers various contexts in multiethnic literature such as politics and activism, immigration and migration, and gender and sexuality
A Companion to the Multiethnic Literature of the United States is an invaluable resource for scholars, researchers, undergraduate and graduate students, and general readers studying all aspects of the subject
Author Bios
GARY TOTTEN is Professor in the Department of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Editor-in-Chief of the journal MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States. He is the author of African American Travel Narratives from Abroad: Mobility and Cultural Work in the Age of Jim Crow, co-editor of Politics, Identity, and Mobility in Travel Writing, editor of Memorial Boxes and Guarded Interiors: Edith Wharton and Material Culture, and author of over forty journal articles and book chapters on US literature and culture.