ETHS 443A CDQ - Passing Narr: Ethnic Am Literature

Minimum Credit(s) Awarded: 4
Maximum Credit(s) Awarded: 4

The term passing refers to the disguises of elements of an individual’s presumed “natural” or “essential” identities, such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and/or class. In this course, we will study selected works of various genres (fiction, memoir, and film) which narrate and negotiate acts of passing. Attending to the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and sexuality in passing narratives and situating these texts in their historical, cultural, and critical contexts, we will examine the ways in which women and men from diverse ancestries in American literature and culture imagine the possibilities of passing while grappling with its complexities and limitations. We will explore the following key critical questions: What motivates passing, and what are the possibilities, consequences, and limitations of passing? What are the similarities and differences between racial and gender passing? In what ways do passing narratives destabilize the binaries of White/non-White, man/woman, authenticity/counterfeit and call into question the “absoluteness” of identity categories? In what ways does passing remain relevant in today’s U.S. cultural and sociopolitical contexts? Cross-listed ENG443A

Prerequisite(s): ENG 110 and sophomore standing.