Diaspora
is a term typically used to designate individuals or groups that have left
their place of birth and have journeyed to and live primarily in their non-native
countries. The term diaspora is commonly associated with the long tradition of
the Jewish diaspora. More contemporary dislocations and relocations may not
involve the myth of return, nostalgia for a lost homeland, or the need to culturally
assimilate completely into host countries. There may be multiple sites or
countries of re-location. This term may include refugees, asylum seekers,
indentured, ‘undocumented’ or otherwise ‘trafficked’ workers, immigrants with
‘legal’ documentation, entrepreneurial communities, and so on. ‘Diaspora’
should not be taken as a prescriptive term; rather, its ongoing usefulness lies
in the debates over its application, its malleability as well as its
limitations. This term may prove especially helpful when articulated with concepts
such as nation, class, gender, ethnicity, indigenous, community, race, and
globalization.
Large diaspora populations from Africa and all parts of Asia
can be found on most continents. This course, however, will focus on the
artistic expressions of people of Asian descent, who are living in Australia,
New Zealand, Hong Kong, the United States, and Brazil. Reading assignments
include texts such as prose, poetry, digital communities, and films. Class will
be organized into small group discussions on assigned topics and succinct individual
presentations on research projects of your own choosing.
Student Learning Outcomes: 1)
to be able to undertake close reading of literary and cultural texts in a
manner that is appropriate for an upper division and intensive study course; 2)
to be able to design and undertake a research project appropriate for an upper
division course; 3) to be able to relate predominant themes among various texts
to larger societal and historical contexts.
Assigned
Texts may include:
Kauz, ASPECTS OF THE MARITIME SILK ROAD: FROM
THE PERSIAN GULF TO THE EAST CHINA SEA (short selection);
Johnson, et al. eds., ASIA IN THE MAKING OF
NEW ZEALAND (short selections on Indonesians in NZ; newspapers and cyberspace
in constructing Asian diaspora communities);
Amitav Ghosh, SEA OF POPPIES (South Asian – United
States; fiction);
Nam Le, THE BOAT (Vietnamese – Australia; fiction);
Wong Kar
Wai, 2046; (Hong Kong; film);
Ha Jin, A
FREE LIFE (China – U.S.; fiction);
Sarith Peou,
CORPSE WATCHING (Cambodia/Kampuchea – U. S. ; poetry);
Kimiko Hahn,
selected poems (Korea – U.S.).
Karen Tei
Yamashita, CIRCLE K CYCLES (memoir)
Books ordered through Revolution Books in Pucks Alley.
Writing Assignments for a Writing Intensive class may
include: One Research Paper (min. 10
double-spaced pages); Reading Journal (semester total of 10 double-spaced
pages).