Korean literary voices: Post-assimilation aspects of Korean American identity

The thesis involves a study of Korean American novels, with attention to recurring immigrant themes of assimilation, identity, racism, social standing, and alienation. The theoretical methodology is postcolonial generally, recognizing that the subject literature speaks to the ways that twentieth-century Koreans have contested hegemony in varying forms.;The thesis describes three distinct phases of contemporary Korean American novels. In the first phase, the Korean immigrant's drama is rooted in the socio-political factors in Korea that trigger dissatisfaction in the homeland. The second phase stands as testament to generational conflict within Korean American families, and to the marginalization of Korean immigrants, often described as a consequence of racism and institutionalized inequality. A third phase of Korean American literature represents the growing multiplicity and complexity of the Korea immigrant experience. This evolving literature speaks to post-assimilation problems of identity and alienation.