Ethnic Literatures and Transnationalism Critical Imaginaries for a Global Age

As new comparative perspectives on race and ethnicity open up, scholars are identifying and exploring fresh topics and questions in an effort to reconceptualize ethnic studies and draw attention to nation–based approaches that may have previously been ignored. This volume, by recognizing the complexity of cultural production in both its diasporic and national contexts, seeks a nuanced critical approach in order to look ahead to the future of transnational literary studies. The majority of the chapters, written by literary and ethnic studies scholars, analyze ethnic literatures of the United States which, given the nation’s history of slavery and immigration, form an integral part of mainstream American literature today. While the primary focus is literary, the chapters analyze their specific topics from perspectives drawn from several disciplines, including cultural studies and history. This book is an exciting and insightful resource for scholars with interests in transnationalism, American literature and ethnic studies.

Preface by Rafael Perez-Torres Introduction Aparajita Nanda Part I: Identity Politics 1. Beyond Identity: Bearings Wlad Godzich 2. ‘One Like Me’: The Refugee as Relational Figure Keith P. Feldman 3. Transnational Identity and the Muslim Diaspora in Camilla Gibb’s Sweetness in the Belly Esra Mirze Santesso 4. Power, Politics, and the Post-National world of Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood Aparajita Nanda 5. ‘Exotic Fagdom’: The Baraka of Surplus Love in a Transnational Context Suelghee Lee Part II: Legacy/Trauma/Healing 6. Rethinking Reconciliation: Reflections on Genocide in Africa Pal Ahluwalia 7. Chinese Communism, Cultural Revolution, and American Multiculturalism Steven Lee 8. Rita Dove’s Sonata Mulattica: A Transatlantic Genre for the Restoration of History Cameron Bushnell 9. Animal Ghosts, Colonial Haunting: History’s Presence(s) beyond Benjamin and Derrida Cassel Busse 10. Paul Beatty’s Slumberland and the Myth of Blackness George Hoagland Part III: Literary Crossings 11. A Borderless World: Literature, Nation, Transnation Bill Ashcroft 12. National Identity Reconsidered: The Intersection of Ethnicity and Sexuality in The Book of Salt Debora Stefani 13. Writing at the Crossroads: The Black Atlantic, Transnation and Virginia Woolf in Biyi Bandele’s The Street Pamela McCallum 14. Revisioning Al-Andalus in Nacer Khemir’s film, The Dove’s Lost Necklace Cynthia Mahamdi 15. The Language of Nation beyond Borders: The Bilingual Trilogy of Francisco Jimenez Juan Velasco Part IV: Established and Emerging Canons: Revisions and Re-Visions 16. Countering Visual Regimes: History, Place and Subjectivity in the Art of Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds Hertha D. Sweet Wong 17. Transnational Feminisms and "Double Understanding": What Academic Women's Memoirs Reveal Wendy Robbins, with Clarissa Hurley and Robin Sutherland 18. Radical Connections/Radical Breaks: African American Writers and the Haiku Form Meta L. Schettler 19. Chinese Obsession, Racial Melancholia, and Male Hysteria: Recuperating Taiwanese American Writer Liu Da-ren in (Chinese) American Studies Su-ching Huang Afterword by John C. Hawley

Aparajita Nanda, recipient of a Fulbright faculty teaching scholarship and a Visiting Associate Professorship to the departments of English and African American Studies, UC Berkeley, has taught at Jadavpur University, India and now teaches both at UC Berkeley and Santa Clara University. Her most recent publications include Romancing the Strange, Black California, The Strangled Cry, and articles in Ariel and Callaloo.