Welcome to my ENG-355 Blog! This is a blog about Multicultural Literature. In it you will find Ancient Eastern Literature, Contemporary Eastern Literature, Native American Literature, African and African American Literature, Latin American Literature: Realism and Magical Realism, Post Holocaust and Jewish Literature, Global Literature: Cultural Integrations in the 20th and 21st Centuries.
My name is Heather Domingue. I am an online student at Grand Canyon University where I am pursuing a degree in English for Secondary Education. I have always had a loved for writing, my English teacher in high school really helped me to develop this. While this class has been a bit challenging in some aspects such as trying to grasp the true meaning the author is trying to portray from works that can be difficult to decipher. I find that writing is a freeing way to express yourself, and I hope to one day instill that in future students.
I currently teach Elementary P.E., which I am having a blast doing! Before that I taught Spanish for ten years. I am a single mother and have two children ages 14 and 23. I lived in El Salvador where my parents were missionaries for thirteen years, where I experienced cultural diversity early in life. Having lived in a different part of the globe, has allowed me to view the world through a different set of eyes.
Multicultural Literature is the meshing together of different cultures in literature to bringing together different viewpoints, backgrounds, and experiences, exposing the readers to different cultures and beliefs. It is the diversity of experiencing more than one culture combined with different experiences. It is often the blending of those life experiences combined with cultural differences that make up the "gist" of multicultural literature. Multicultural gives readers a glimpse into lives and traditions of others that they might otherwise never experience.
In literature, "global," is having roots in one country or region of the hemisphere and being able to identify with another culture and its beliefs. Global is taking certain experiences, beliefs, and backgrounds, and combining those views and experiences with other cultures. Some authors have never planted feet on other parts of the globe, but this have immersed themselves in works of different writings of other cultures. To be "global," is having a desire to learn and identify with other cultures that may not be your own.
The term "blurring of the national boundaries," can best be identified as taking one's views and experiences and combining them with beliefs of a different country or culture. Taking the norms society has put on people and using norms of other cultures to develop a new norm. Blurring of the boundaries can also be thought of as understanding the way other cultures operate and cultivating some of those ideas and beliefs along with life experiences.
In 20th century literature, authors wrote about their problems, backgrounds, beliefs, and traditions. Many of those writers faced tremendous hardships and overcame obstacles. Some struggled with identity while trying to go against social norms that society had placed on them. Others during the time of the holocaust went through unspeakable acts of torture and wrote about rage. It is those experiences that make us and break us. Society during the beginning of the 21st century was undergoing a change, as a shift was beginning to take place from societal norms of the past dealing with choices and making moral decisions while trying to move forward into a new era.
I hope that you enjoy my blog posts, and find them helpful in some way!
