Asian Myths, Modern Retellings

Catalog description

This course focuses on Asian American literature that adapts traditional Asian myths and folktales into new American contexts. We will examine how Asian myths offer an ambivalent cultural inheritance for Asian Americans: on the one hand, serving as narrative tools for constructing identity amidst racism and assimilationist pressures; on the other, retaining burdensome roots of tradition that require reckoning within intergenerational Asian American communities. Whenever possible, we will examine original versions of an Asian myth first before exploring its English-language adaptations, identifying which narrative differences matter and analyzing why. Above all, students will get a sense of how to engage with myths as a literary genre acting in concert with the needs of specific historical and cultural moments. Familiarity with Asian languages and cultures is not required for this course but will be helpful for specific activities that we do in class.