Academic Catalogs

ENGL A164: Literature of Asia and Its Diaspora

Course Outline of Record
Item Value
Eff Term Fall 2026
Curriculum Committee Approval Date 11/12/2025
Top Code 150100 - English
Units 3 Total Units 
Hours Lecture Hours 54
Total Outside of Class Hours 108
Total Student Learning Hours 108
Course Credit Status Credit: Degree Applicable (D)
Material Fee No
Basic Skills Not Basic Skills (N)
Repeatable No
Open Entry/Open Exit No
Grading Policy Standard Letter (S), 
  • Pass/No Pass (B)
Associate Arts Local General Education (GE)
  • Area 3 Arts and Humanities 3A Theory (OC1)
Associate Science Local General Education (GE)
  • Area 3B Humanities (OSC2)

Course Description

Read, analyze, and write on important modern literature of Asia and its diasporas. Explore the historical, cultural, philosophical, and aesthetic implications of representative works while focusing on the interrelationship between text, author, and country of birth and/or ancestral origin. Formulate and produce written analyses of assigned works. May be taken for grades or on a pass-no pass basis. Enrollment Limitation: ENGL A164H; students who complete ENGL A164 may not enroll in or receive credit for ENGL A164H. ADVISORY: ENGL A100. Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.

Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)

  1. Write analytical arguments about literature of Asia and Asian diasporas and their historical, philosophical, cultural, and aesthetic influences.

Course Objectives

  • Demonstrate familiarity with important authors, works, genres, and themes for Asian and Asian diaspora literature.
  • Analyze and interpret culturally significant literary texts by Asian and Asian diasporic writers, with attention to questions of history, race, gender, class, culture, language.
  • Demonstrate understanding of academic discourse and the conventions of literary analysis.\\n
  • Relate Asian and Asian diaspora literature to their historical, philosophical, social, political, religious, regional, and/or aesthetic contexts.
  • Demonstrate comprehension of critical literary analysis, literary movements, and important thematic issues through class discussion, written projects,, and essays using appropriate citation format.
  • Appreciate how a work of literature can address, expand, and argue political and social issues relevant to Asian and Asian diasporic history and thought.

Lecture Content

Influential, significant, and/or non-canonical texts and authors relevant to Asian and Asian diaspora literature. 

  1. Identification of issues specific to Asian literature or Asian diaspora literature. 

    1. Exploration of colonialism/imperialism (both Western and Eastern) and its effects on Asian countries (e.g. English colonization of India or China or the Japanese colonization of Korea or occupation of China, etc.) in representative texts

      1. Representative texts from the Asian continent include works such as Sea of Poppies by Amitav Gosh, The English Teacher by R.K. Narayan, Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, Lust, Caution by Eileen Chang, or Tongueless by Lau Yee-Wa

      2. Diasporic texts: Representative texts include works such as Babel by R.F. Kuang, by  Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, or the short story collection East/West by Salman Rushdie 

    2. Impact of 20th and 21st century globalization/migration and wars/conflicts

      1. World War II/Sino-Japanese War (Representative texts: An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro or The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai)

      2. Vietnam or Korean War (Representative texts:The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen)

      3. Post-9/11 Islamophobia (Representative texts: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, Burnt Shadows Kamila Shamsie)

      4. Globalization

        1. Importation of the “rags to riches” story (Representative texts:The White Tiger by Aravinda Adiga or How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid) 

        2. Critiques of modernity/capitalism

    3. First-Generation or Second-Generation Immigrant Experience of Diasporic Groups, particularly issues of assimilation, language, and cultural values

      1. Asian-American Diaspora: representative works such as Night Sky with Exit Wounds (Ocean Vuong), Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, or Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston.

      2. British Asian Diaspora: works from authors such as Salman Rushdie, Kazuo Ishiguro, Hanif Kureishi, or Monica Ali 

      3. Intra-Asia Diasporas (e.g. zainichi Koreans, or living in Japan Koreans, like Min Jin Lee)

      4. Other notable diasporas or inter-cultural experiences (Representative texts: The White Book by Han Kang or texts from Japanese-born, German-based writer Yoko Tawada)

      5. Non-fiction memoirs/theoretical texts which explore identity and cultural belonging

  2. Study of the relevant local history and socio-political context of the society depicted in the selected texts. 

    1. Pre-modern texts (literary, mythological, or nonfiction) which offer context for historical issues or literary traditions

    2. Non-fiction texts from Asian and Asian-diaspora writers which offer critical commentary on relevant local history or socio-political contexts: selections from authors like Arundati Roy, Vijay Prashad, etc. 

  3. Consideration of relevant literary issues

    1. Internment camp diaries and memoirs

    2. English adaptations of haiku, tanka, and ghazal

    3. Grief and loss

    4. Pacifism and resistance

    5. Gender conflicts

    6. Intergenerational conflicts

    7. Inter-ethnic conflicts

  4. Application of critical and theoretical lens to evaluate and analyze Asian and Asian diaspora literature (including post-colonial, psychoanalytical, gender/queer, Marxist, etc.)

    1. Ways that writers have challenged or subverted Orientalist tropes

  5. Critical Reading  and Analysis Strategies

    1. Close reading of texts

    2. Observation versus inference

    3. Application of theory

    4. Comparison and contrast of various thematic elements of crime and detective fiction texts across various cultural and ethnic origins

    5. Intertextual references and putting texts into conversation with each other 

    6. Development of literary analysis

  6. Writing Strategies demonstrated through take home essays, response papers, in-class exams:

    1. B Analytical interpretation

    2. C Argumentation

    3. D Summary and description

    4. E Evaluation and Application

    5. F Thesis development

    6. G Rudimentary research skills and MLA citation

Method(s) of Instruction

  • Lecture (02)

Instructional Techniques

Lecture and application of ideas, discussion, instructor feedback on written papers and discussion, exams, peer feedback.

Reading Assignments

Students will spend a minimum of 4-6 hours per week outside of class researching writers and secondary sources, reading literary works--including but not limited to poems, plays, and prose--and critical analyses relevant to the period.

Writing Assignments

Students will average about 2 hours per week writing--a minimum of 3000 words (15 pages, 12 pt.double spaced typed) about literature of Asia and/or its diasporas: (a) a minimum of 2000 words(10 pages) of the writing must be in the form of analytical essays, (b) the other writings may be in the form of tests requiring primarily short and/or long essay responses, journal writings, creative modeling of the literature, written notes outlining oral presentations, written scripts for film/video presentations, or other types of writings that demonstrate an understanding of the literature.

Out-of-class Assignments

Students will spend a minimum of between 4-6 hours each week writing assignments--including(but not limited to) essays, summaries, reading responses, research essays using secondary sources and take-home exams.

Study Non-Contact Hours Recommended

108

Methods of Student Evaluation

  • Midterm Exam
  • Final Exam
  • Short Quizzes
  • Written Assignments
  • Essay Examinations
  • Projects (Individual/Group)
  • Problem Solving Exercises
  • Oral Presentations
  • Skills Demonstration

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

Scheduled written examinations, including a midterm and final exam; short written discussions of the works and ideas related to them, weekly quizzes.

Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration

Write a minimum of 3000 words (15 pages, 12 pt. double-spaced typed) about Asian and Asian diaspora literature: (a) a minimum of 2000 words (10 pages) of the writing must be in the form of analytical essays, (b) the other writings may be in the form of tests requiring primarily short and/or long essay responses, journal writings, creative modeling of the literature, written notes outlining oral presentations, written scripts for film/video presentations, or other types of writings that demonstrate an understanding of the literature.

Resources Subscreen

  • Textbook: Salman Rushdie. Midnight’s Children. Random House (2006 (Classic)).
  • Textbook: Lau Yee-Wa. Tongueless. Feminist Press (2024).
  • Textbook: Otsuka, Julie. The Buddha in the Attic. Anchor (2012 (Classic)).
  • Textbook: Nguyen, Viet Thanh. The Sympathizer. Grove Press (2016 (Classic)).

Eligible Discipline(s)

  • English: Master’s degree in English, literature, comparative literature, or composition OR bachelor’s degree in any of the above AND master’s degree in linguistics, TESL, speech, education with a specialization in reading, creative writing, or journalism OR the equivalent. Master's degree required.