In 1924, the US Immigration Act (Johnson Reed Act) was passed to regulate immigration by introducing a national quota system and banning Asian immigration entirely. Many of the political concerns today, particularly those upheld by anti-immigration groups, echo the general sentiment of the Johnson Reed Act: namely, to cast the American Dream as a popular myth attractive to immigrant populations, but to restrict access to it strategically. This ambivalence can be traced throughout many contemporary American novels. The current political debates surrounding immigration to the US will be the main focus in this course, by understanding the nuances of this ambivalence and exploring to whom contemporary American novels are writing back at.
Students will learn to contextualize American literature within historical and contemporary political discourses surrounding immigration to the US; they will learn to situate common themes in immigrant literatures within various concerns in cultural studies; they will learn to integrate political and cultural studies concerns and concepts into their close readings of literary texts.
- Lehrende/r: Silvia Schultermandl
- Lehrende/r: Chris Wahlig