Multiethnic literature of the United States has a history of rethinking, reimagining, and redefining race and racism through the study of non-white and ethnic Euro-American literature, narratives, and experiences. Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, ethnic American writers have written on what seemed to have been bleak, harsh, dystopian presents, and even apocalyptic futures. Writers who write of their personal, communal, or cultural lived experiences that are outside the norms of the dominant society know and understand that a harsh past and present can still bring about renewal and a bright future. And they have used their voices to represent a broad array of experiences in the U.S. to rewrite definitions of race and ethnicity and reexamine the history of racism.

Expanding on NeMLA's theme of (Re)generation, this panel will examine 20th and 21st century multiethnic literature of the U.S. as works that have helped to (re)shape, (re)think, (re)imagine, and (re)define U.S. history and their cultural/communal past and present. It seeks presentations on works that have suggested or (un)successfully brought about a form of positive renewal through the engagement of voices and people that represent a diverse array of cultures and experiences. It will examine literature that represents lived experiences outside of the norm of the dominant U.S. society. It will also look at literature that interrogates mainstream histories and literature of said experience in order to rewrite/right the present and bring a better future for the communities their work represents. This panel seeks, but is not limited to, presentations that revisit historical and literary interpretations of multiethnic America. This panel also seeks work that examines race and ethnicity at the intersection of gender, sexuality, class, etc.