This course focuses on ethnic identity and racial difference in the USA. We will explore the perceptions and life experiences of non-dominant and other-than-white groups. Our primary focus is on works by American Indian and Mexican American (Chicana/o) thinkers. We will approach literary texts of the two racial groups and situate them within the literary canon of the USA. Emphasis will be given on the identity rhetoric they enunciate and on how they ‘relativize’ the dominant discourse of the American literary canon. The works to be discussed in class include novels, short stories, poems and films.
