Cross-cultural intervention in twentieth century American literary theory: Another look and 'Dictee', 'The Bonesetter's Daughter', 'Dreaming in Cuban', 'So Far From God', and 'Song of Solomon' (Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Amy Tan, Cristina Garcia, Ana Castillo

This dissertation addresses the issue that in late twentieth century American literature distinctions persist between the literary criticism done on works by minority writers and that done on works by white, male canonical authors. These distinctions direct readers, both inside and outside of the academy, to believe that we read works by minority authors mostly to survey sociological factors, such as race, class, ethnicity, gender, and culture, and not really to appreciate aesthetic factors, such as tropes, language play, and universal issues. I argue that theorists need to develop a language of theory that takes into account the ways in which certain forms and ideas are culturally and sociologically embedded in language. Such a theory would be metacritical, considering how its own forms serve to reaffirm classifications and segregation within American literature.; I then go on to look at specific texts that examine some of the challenges of reading through culture and culturally-informed language. I argue that Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dictee disrupts linear narrative to show readers the ways that language both reiterates connections to specific cultures, specific histories, and specific bodies and at the same time reconfigures those connections. Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter and Cristina Garcia's Dreaming in Cuban question the reader's search for an original, authentic other. In The Bonesetter's Daughter , readers must be willing to examine their own intentions in reading, particularly their own beliefs about the other, in order to come to cross-cultural understanding. Dreaming in Cuban illustrates that coming to cross-cultural understanding requires that the reader relinquish the idea of mastering or owning the other. Ana Castillo's So Far From God and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon show readers that to be an insider, one must learn the nuanced language of the group. My analysis of these works asserts that readers of minority works need to place more emphasis on reading with and through culture as opposed to about culture.