Trailing Clouds : Immigrant Fiction in Contemporary America / David Cowart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cowart, David, author.

Series:

Cornell paperbacks.

Cornell paperbacks

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Emigration and immigration in literature.

Immigrants in literature.

American fiction--20th century--History and criticism.

American fiction.

American fiction--Minority authors--History and criticism.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 249 p. )

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

"We stand to learn much about the durability of or changes in the American way of life from writers such as Bharati Mukherjee (born in India), Ursula Hegi (born in Germany), Jerzy Kosinski (born in Poland), Jamaica Kincaid (born in Antigua), Cristina Garcia (born in Cuba), Edwidge Danticat (born in Haiti), Wendy Law-Yone (born in Burma), Mylène Dressler (born in the Netherlands), Lan Cao (born in Vietnam), and such Korean-born authors as Chang-rae Lee, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, and Nora Okja Keller-writers who in recent years have come to this country and, in their work, contributed to its culture."-David CowartIn Trailing Clouds, David Cowart offers fresh insights into contemporary American literature by exploring novels and short stories published since 1970 by immigrant writers. Balancing historical and social context with close readings of selected works, Cowart explores the major themes raised in immigrant writing: the acquisition of language, the dual identity of the immigrant, the place of the homeland, and the nature of citizenship.Cowart suggests that the attention to first-generation writers (those whose parents immigrated) has not prepared us to read the fresher stories of those more recent arrivals whose immigrant experience has been more direct and unmediated. Highlighting the nuanced reflection in immigrant fiction of a nation that is ever more diverse and multicultural, Cowart argues that readers can learn much about the changes in the American way of life from writers who have come to this country, embraced its culture, and penned substantial literary work in English.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The New Immigrant Writing

1. Slavs of New York: Being There, Mr. Sammler's Planet

2. Immigration and Primal Scene: Alvarez's How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

3. Survival on the Tangled Bank: Hegi's The Vision of Emma Blau and Mukherjee's Jasmine

4. Language, Dreams, and Art in Cristina Garcia's Dreaming in Cuban

5. Korean Connection: Chang-rae Lee and Company

6. Haitian Persephone: Danticat's Breath, Eyes, Memory

7. Assimilation and Adolescence: Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy and Lan Cao's Monkey Bridge

8. Ethnicity as Pentimento: Mylène Dressler's The Deadwood Beetle

9. Immigration as Bardo: Wendy Law-Yone's The Coffin Tree

10. Closet and Mask: Junot Díaz's Drown

Conclusion: We, Them, Us

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [229]-237) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Mrz 2019)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781501727054

1501727052

OCLC:

1080550612