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The following presents a sample of the five possible ethnic traditions.
There might be minor adjustment in topics with a different selection of
ethnic
traditions.)
EUROPEAN AMERICAN
1. First-generation experiences and the literature they have spawned.
2. Old-country backgrounds: escape from persecution (religious, politic-
al, cultural, racial), customs of ethnic cohesion, folklore, relevant
history (political or demographic), religion.
3. Adaptation to American economic, cultural, and political conditions.
4. Reception by earlier arrivals from other ethnic groups (racism, ethnic
conflict, competition for work, stereotyping).
5. Second- and third-generation experiences and the literature they have
spawned (rejection of one's ethnic traditions; rediscovery of them;
rising fortunes within American society; etc.)
6. Contemporary experiences and the literature they have spawned.
ASIAN AMERICAN
1. First-generation experiences and the literature they have spawned.
2. Old-country backgrounds: escape from persecution (religious, politic-
al, cultural, racial), customs of ethnic cohesion, folklore, relevant
history (political or demographic), religion.
3. Adaptation to American economic, cultural, and political conditions.
4. Reception by earlier arrivals from other ethnic groups (racism, ethnic
conflict, competition for work, stereotyping).
5. Second- and third-generation experiences and the literature they have
spawned (rejection of one's ethnic traditions; rediscovery of them;
rising fortunes within American society; etc.)
6. Contemporary trends in Asian American literature.
NATIVE AMERICAN
1. Ancient Tales and Traditions: creation myths, the oral tradition.
2. Tribal culture, backgrounds: differences among various tribal tradi-
tions and how they show up in key tales and tale-telling traditions.
Elements of culture shared among tribes (depending on specific region
selected).
3. The Coming of the White Man, and the Literature It Spawned (approx.
1790-1890).
4. Adaptation to European American cultural traditions: Indian poetry,
tales and fiction that adopt features of the European written li ter-
ary tradition (approx. 1850-present). Relevant economic, cultural,
political and educational backgrounds.
5. Recent and contemporary trends in Native American literature.
AFRICAN AMERICAN
1. Slave narratives.
2. Folk traditions.
3. Harlem Renaissance.
4. The evolution of Black American identity via literature.
5. Contemporary trends in African American literature.
LATINO AMERICAN
1. Forms of expression peculiar to the Latino experience.
2. Political, cultural, historical, aesthetic phenomenon in Latino
American literature.
3. Old World vs. New World perspectives.
4. The Chicano literary tradition.
5. Contemporary trends in Latino American literature.
SYNTHESIS
Comparisons of at least three selected ethnic literatures: similarities
and differences in the issues that inform and motivate them; differences
in point of view on "the American Dream" and other American culture
concepts; differences in literary techniqueönarrative structure, style,
preference of one genre over another, etc.öand possible reasons for such
differences.
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For African American literature:
INVISIBLE MAN, Ralph Ellison, Random, 1963
NATIVE SON, Richard Wright, HarperCollins, 1993
NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, ed. Frederick Douglass,
Dover, 1995
BELOVED, Toni Morrison, NAL-Dutton, 1991
THE COLOR PURPLE, Alice Walker, Harbrace, 182,
I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS, Maya Angelou, Bantam, 1983
THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD, Zora Neale Hurston, HarperCollins, 1990
.
For Asian American literature:
CHINA MEN, Maxine Hong Kingston, Random, 1989.
JOY LUCK CLUB, Amy Tan, Putname, 1989.
FIFTH CHINESE DAUGHTER, Jade Snow Wong, U of Washington Press, 1989.
YOKOHAMA, CALIFORNIA, Toshio Mori, U of Washington press, 1985
For Latino American literature:
BARRIO BOY, Ernesto Galarza, U of Notre Dame, 1971
EL TEATRO DE LA ESPERANZA: ANTHOLOGY OF CHICANO DRAMA, ed. Jorga Huerta,
Teatro de la Esperanza, 1973.
BLESS ME, ULTIMA, Rudolfo Anaya, Quinto Sol Publ, 1972.
WOMEN HOLLERING CREEK and Other Stories, Sandra Cisneros, Vintage, 1990.
ZOOT SUIT and Other Plays, Luis Valdez, Arte Publico Press, 1992
For European American literature:
GIANTS IN THE EARTH, Ole Edvart Rolvaag,HarperCollins, 1965.
THE SOUL OF AN IMMIGRANT, Constantine Panunzio, Ayer, 1969.
SHAWL, Cynthia Ozick, Knopf, 1989.
THE INVENTION OF THE WHITE RACE, Theodore Allen, Verso, 1994.
For Native American literature:
THE WAY TO RAINY MOUNTAIN, N. Scott Momaday, U of New Mexico Press, 1976.
CEREMONY by Leslie Marmon Silko,Viking Penguin, 1986.
LOVE MEDICINE, Louise Erdrich, HarperCollins, 1993.
NIGHT FLYING WOMAN, Ignatia Broken, U of Minnesota Press, 1983.
LAKOTA WOMAN, Mary Crow Dog, Harper Perrennial, 1990.
THE WOMAN WHO OWNED THE SHADOWS, Paula Gunn Allen, Spinster's, 1983.
A YELLOW RAFT IN BLUE WATER, Michael Dorris, Warner, 1988.
FIGHTIN': NEW AND COLLECTED STORIES, Simon Ortiz, Thunder's Mouth, 1983.
BONE GAME, Louis Owens, U of Oklahoma Press, 1994.
CALLING MYSELF HOME, Unda Hozan, Greenfield Review Press, 1991.
IN MADE LOVE AND WAR, Joy Harjo, Wesleyan U Press, 1990.
EARTH SONG, SKY SPIRIT, Clifford Trafzer, Doubleday, 1992.
Sample Background Works:
STRANGERS FROM A DIFFERENT SHORE: A HISTORY OF ASIAN AMERICANS, Ronald
Takiki, Penguin, 1989;
AMERICAN MOSAIC: MULTI-CULTURAL READINGS IN CONTEXT, Barbara Roche Rico
and Sandra Mano, Houghton Mifflin, 1991;
ETHNIC WRITERS IN AMERICA,Myron Simon, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972;
THE SACRED HOOP: RECOVERING THE FEMININE IN AMERICAN INDIAN TRADITIONS,
Paula Gunn Allen, Beacon Press,1986;
BLUES PEOPLE: NEGRO MUSIC IN WHITE AMERICA, LeRoi Jones, Morrow, 1971.
A DIFFERENT MIRROR, Takaki, Back Bay Books, 1993
READING THE LITERATURES OF ASIAN AMERICAN, eds Lim and Ling,.Temple U.
Press, 1992.
OTHER DESTINIES: UNDERSTANDING THE AMERICAN INDIAN NOVEL, Louis Owens, U.
of Oklahoma Pres, 1992.
PLAYING IN THE DARK, Morrison, Vintage, 1992.
