“Diaspora,” which literally means “scattering of seeds,” is used to define migrant groups who sustain their history, memory and tradition even after dispersal from the homeland. In the U.S. context, “diaspora” has represented a way of viewing migrant communities without expecting them to assimilate within U.S. culture. “Diaspora” thus represents both an alternative to assimilation, and a set of new problems. How does a diaspora represent a homeland they have been separated from? Does being in a diaspora make a migrant group less American? What is the diaspora’s relationship to the homeland and the host country?

This course will explore these questions by examining how “diaspora” has been historically and theoretically constituted within Asian migrant literature. We will attempt to discover and define a growing body of diasporic writing that includes migrant histories, memories of exile, and narratives of traveling back to an imagined homeland. We will examine these writings against their historic, political, economic, geographic and social backdrops, focusing on themes regarding gender, class, national origins, transnational identities, and sexuality.

The texts in this course come from a variety of forms and genres. We will read novels, short stories, poetry, and film, to invoke questions of genre and form as well as questions concerning themes and character. These literatures will be paired with critical essays.

The work for the course is designed to keep you reading and writing daily. There will be weekly reading responses and 2-3 page short papers due every two weeks. There will also be one group presentation every week, and a final digital group project. This course satisfies the W credit and the VLPA credit.

Required Reading List:
Sionil Jose, Viajero
Lawrence Chua, Gold by the Inch
Yamashita, Karen. Brazil-Maru
UW Course Pack