Ethnic Canon: Histories, Institutions, and Interventions

Who is making decisions on which ethnic literature gets included into the standard educational canon? How does this decision-making process occur? The Ethnic Canon questions the current process, arguing that texts are added to the canon only after an operation that attempts to resolve and neutralize historical and political contradictions and differences. The Ethnic Canon offers a wide variety of critical viewpoints, and speaks to the history and practice of canon formation within specific ethnic literatures. It is a unique collection in its pointed critique of the academy regarding particular authors and texts which have and have not been included in the canon. The texts examined include: Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon , Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man , Amarico Paredes’ Between Two Worlds , Richard Rodriguez’ Days of Obligation , and David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly , along with the novels of Amy Tan, Filipino works and Caribbean women’s writings.