This course examines the diverse ways in which twentieth century authors imagine American identity. It challenges students to situate the works studied in their historical, social and political contexts—especially as they relate to matters of race, gender and sexual identity. Therefore, this course explores identity formation in American culture to read the relationship between "multiculturalism" and modern literature. Using an interdisciplinary and multicultural approach to American history and culture, we address the idea of a multicultural society and theories of multiculturalism in relation to literature, and consider contested notions of melting pot, assimilation, separate development and identity politics. More importantly, we will focus on specific multicultural experiences in order to understand how the experiences of each ethnic group changed the lives of the others and vice versa as we study fiction produced by members of these communities.