Title: CYRUS R. K. PATELL. Emergent U.S. Literatures: From Multiculturalism to Cosmopolitanism in the Late Twentieth Century.
Abstract: Cyrus R. K. Patell is well known in his field as series editor and contributor to Sacvan Bercovitch’s outstanding Cambridge History of American Literature . This book, which Patell explains grew out of his previous work with Bercovitch, is a bit of a conundrum: though masterly in its execution, it has weaknesses in its conception that at times threaten to overshadow its achievements. The author begins by explaining that his publishers wanted him to rename the book U.S. Multicultural Literatures , and one can see why. This is a study of Asian American, Native American, Hispanic American and Gay and Lesbian Americans; groups, in other words, that have indeed helped us to understand the plurality and diversity of American culture. Yet the title did not seem accurate to the author, because, as he explains, he does not discuss African Americans or women’s literature. This immediately highlights the problem in this study’s conception. Leaving aside the notable absence of Jewish Americans, it is hard to understand why Patell decided to segregate in this way, suggesting (perhaps involuntarily) that we have to choose between categories, that we have to read an author through the lens of lesbian writing, for example, rather than women’s writing, or Africa American. To defend his position, Patell explains that the groups he has chosen are or have been even more marginalized than the ones he has excluded. This argument could well justify the absence of Jewish Americans, but it doesn’t quite convince when it comes to African Americans or women’s writing. The second fault in the conception of ‘the emergent’ lies in the grouping together of ‘others’ who are defined through ethnic or racial origins, and those for whom sexuality is a stronger marker of identity. Alice Walker and Toni Morrison have explored throughout their careers the tensions and hierarchies of gender, sexuality and race, but here Patell seems unwilling to engage with their arguments. To put it simply, does being gay trump being white? Is a white lesbian author more marginalized than a Hispanic heterosexual one?
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-08-05
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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