“East Goes West”: Tracing Developments in Asian American Literature and Culture

Dozent/in:

Mareike Spychala

Angaben:

Proseminar, 2 SWS, ECTS: 6, Studium Generale, Gender und Diversität, Kultur und Bildung

Termine:

Do, 10:00 - 12:00, U5/02.22

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

1. Module Allocation:

All modules including an advanced level seminar (Aufbaumodul) for literary studies or cultural studies:

• BA Anglistik/Amerikanistik (Seminar 6 ECTS)
• BA Berufliche Bildung (Seminar 6 ECTS)
• Lehramt GS/HS/MS/RS/GY (Seminar 6 ECTS)

>> Open for ‘Ergänzungsmodul’ literary studies and cultural studies!

2. Prerequisites for obtaining credit points:

• completion of the basic module (Basismodul)
• active participation (individual tasks and group work)
• term paper in English (following the Style Sheet)
• only Ergänzungsmodul: oral exam (see website for more information: https://www.uni-bamberg.de/amerikanistik/studium/ergaenzungsmodul-ba/ )

3. FlexNow-Registration:

• Course Participation (de)enrollment: March 15 – May 01, 2022
• ECTS/Exam (de)registration: June 01 – July 01, 2022

Guest auditors: please contact lecturer via e-mail.

Information on how to solve problems with your registration: https://www.uni-bamberg.de/anglistik/studium/informationen-zu-flexnow/

Für Studienortwechsler, Erasmusstudenten sowie Studierende, die den Leistungsnachweis zur baldigen Prüfungsanmeldung benötigen, werden im begrenzten Umfang Plätze freigehalten. Bei Überbuchung der Lehrveranstaltung fällt die Entscheidung über die Teilnahme in Rücksprache mit der Dozentin.

Inhalt:

After U.S. public discourse during the late-19th and early-20th century vilified Asian – and especially Chinese – immigrants as “Yellow Peril,” Americans of Asian descent have more recently been (mis-)represented as a “Model Minority.” However, neither of these labels are self-chosen, nor do they communicate the vibrant and diverse literatures and cultures gathered under the label “Asian American,” coined during the activism of the 1960s. “Asian American” as an umbrella term covers people from many different countries and cultures of origin who moved to the United States during vastly different time periods and under varied circumstances, sometimes voluntary, in search of education or work opportunities, and sometimes seeking refuge from persecution or war. In addition, the term also applies to the second- or third-generation descendants of earlier (im-)migrants, whose experiences and (self-)positionings differ yet again.

This course aims to offer an introduction to a wide variety of Asian American literary and cultural texts and trace how these texts negotiate questions of ethnicity, citizenship, gender, and belonging in the United States from the assimilationist late-19th century to the transcultural 21st century. In doing so, it aims to help students to trace and tease out both the commonalities and the differences that emerge between and among these texts.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Students are asked to buy and start reading the following texts BEFORE the beginning of class.

• Younghill Kang, East Goes West (1937)
• Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club (1989)
• Julie Otsuka, The Buddha in the Attic (2011)
• Thi Bui, The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir (2017)
• George Takei, They Called Us Enemy (2020)

Further Readings will be made available via the VC.

Films

• The Joy Luck Club (1993)
• Allegiance: A New Musical Inspired by a True Story (2012)