Verified Document

Multiculturalism In American Literature Traditionally, American Literature Essay

Multiculturalism in American Literature Traditionally, American literature as it is taught in schools, has been comprised of texts composed by white, male, protestant authors who have been accepted into the Western canon. As such, "American" literature has left out huge swaths of the literary tradition of America, simply by failing to qualify it as American literature. However, this has begun to change, as the works of other American cultures begin to gain prominence, and be regarded with the same serious study that has been given to elements of the traditional canon. The concept of an overarching American culture had effectively whitewashed away other forms and styles of literature, composed by incredibly distinct subcultures (Jay 49). However, the study of American literature is now progressing toward a more inclusive, expansive means of embracing is multicultural heritage.

America is composed of a variety of groups, many with their own clear cultures and literary traditions, some present before America...

For example, Native American literature existed before America itself did, while African-American literature is the product of cultural fusion. These two cultural traditions are part of "American Literature" yet in many cases would be split into their own fields of study (Jay 50). Other hyphenated identities, including Asian-American and Mexican-American all have created rich bodies of work within the context of American literature, albeit America as experienced from the eyes of someone of a non-white racial background. This does not make the literature any less American, it simply offers a changed perspective, and thus has as canon text to be included in the study of American literature.
This expansion of multiculturalism expands those that find texts accessible. According to Jay, the use of an exclusively Western canon creates reading lists loaded with expectations (52). That is,…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Jay, Gregory. "The End of "American" Literature: Toward a Multicultural

Practice." College English. 53.3 (1991): 45-62. Print.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Dually Diagnosed African-American and Latino
Words: 13893 Length: 50 Document Type: Term Paper

(1999) which are: 1) Those with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder with major depression and who use alcohol and drugs to self-mediate to cope with the symptoms; and 2) Those with borderline personality and anti-social personality disorders including anxiety disorder that is complicated by use of alcohol and illicit drugs. (Mather et al. 1999) Presenting further difficulty is the establishment of problems with alcohol and illicit drug use

African Studies and Multiculturalism an
Words: 3354 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

Social dissent and unrest should not be the result of multiculturalism, the authors point out, but nonetheless those are the social realities, in many instances, of the new global picture. There is now, like it or not, a "blurring of cultural borderlines," the authors report; and as a result, the notion of culture within the word "multiculturalism" no longer refers to habits and customs of a people in anthropological terms.

Illegal Immigrants in the U.S.
Words: 2196 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

So who is an American and what an America can or cannot do are questions which are critical to the issue of legalizing immigrants. Does being an American mean you cannot show allegiance to any other country? The images of people raising and waving Mexican flag had enraged many but it need not have. It should be accepted that people who come from different countries would forever hold in their

Country of Origin Effect on
Words: 6167 Length: 20 Document Type: Literature Review

With this in mind communications strategy has to be developed and implemented. The central debate remains that of degree of uniformity. The pros and cons are obvious, i.e. economies of scale, consistent message across markets, centralized control, different market characteristics, media availability and costs and government regulations (Balabanis & Diamantopoulos, 2011). The stronger argument appears to be that different strategy appears to work in different situations, rather than a

Colombia Is the Third-Largest Recipient
Words: 19788 Length: 58 Document Type: Research Proposal

During this penultimate period of violence under Rojas, the violence that wracked Colombia assumed a number of different characteristics that included an economic quality as well as a political one with numerous assassinations taking place. These were literally contract killings there were sponsored by opposition forms. There were also horrendous genocidal acts that were carried out by gangs combined with authentic revolutionary fighting in some regions of the country. The fourth

Racist Ideology and Imagery
Words: 2383 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

R's of American Racism: Representation, Rejection, and Realization Racism is a system of meaning that promotes and legitimated the domination of one racially defined group over another. Racism assigns values to both real and imagined cultural and physical differences, benefitting the dominant party and making negative claims about the subordinate, so that this dominance may be justified ideologically. The seeming illogical or even counterproductive nature of racism may be explained in

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now