Bibliotheksprojekt “Reading America”

Dear Students,

our library project "Reading America" is slowly but surely coming to an end. We warmly invite you to our communal reading event taking place on Wednesday, July 8th, at 6pm in the central library's (ULB) lecture room. Come join us to talk about books on (and off) our "Reading America" shelf, discuss and debate reading as a critical practice, and share our thoughts on reading (in) America. You do not need to prepare anything and you do not have to have read every book on the shelf (or any for that matter)- everyone interested in talking about these books with their teachers outside the seminar room is welcome to attend!

We're looking forward to seeing you!

This memoir takes a step back from the American apple pie life. Not white, not straight, and not idyllic, In the Dream House narrates a queer story of domestic abuse between two women, giving an insight into queer relationships away from the model minority myth. Nevertheless, as the author aptly puts it: “For fuck’s sake, stop making us look bad.” (Laura Cwalina)

By transforming the unborn children of people who were abducted, tortured, and thrown overboard during their transatlantic journey to the Americas into mermaids, the novel engages with the atrocities of the Middle Passage and their consequences for identity and sense of belonging. It also suggests how a lost past, and thus history, can be reclaimed through imagination. The novel offers a compelling perspective on what diaspora may mean for generations shaped by colonialism and for those who follow them. (Maxine Broich)

This dime novel was authored by Cherokee lawyer, writer and activist John Rollin Ridge (aka Yellow Bird) in 1854. The book was widely popularized at the time for its depiction of the adventures of legendary Mexican American bandito Joaquín Murieta during the 1849 California gold rush and in the aftermath of the Mexican-American war—a story which also inspired the Zorro legend. But the text is not only a fictional biography of Murieta. It also incorporates autobiographical elements of Ridge's experience of being Cherokee during a time of violent Native American removal and US imperial expansion on the North American continent. The dime novel does not only highlight the importance of popular culture as a lens through which to understand 19th century politics of race and nationhood in the United States, but through its depiction of a rich tapestry of cultural identities shaping the Mexican-American borderland, it also reminds us that the current surge in white nationalism in the United States necessarily belies the culturally diverse and contested history and present of the US nation-state. (Jens Temmen)

Yamashita's 1997 novel is a vibrant portrait of L.A., but it also opens up a larger panorama about transnational America. Composed as a network narrative, the novel connects multiple characters, plotlines, and histories of the U.S. in its entanglements with Mexico, Japan, Vietnam, and the African continent. Yamashita's writing is beautiful, clear, and mesmerizing. She brings to life an orange - a central character that helps the reader see the often invisible connections in the networks that have made America. (Regina Schober)

Spanning generations, this novel tells the story of a Vietnamese family shaped by war, famine, and political upheaval. Through the voices of a grandmother and her granddaughter, it traces the lasting impact of colonialism and conflict on both personal and national identity against the backdrop of US interference. It weaves together themes of resilience, memory, and the quiet endurance required to survive loss while still holding on to hope and invites to reflect on what happens to those who suffer the consequences of the U.S. military power. (Sinem Kurcenli)

The works of Jack London transported me into another world. I’m especially drawn to his adventure novels like The Sea-Wolf, White Fang, and The Call of the Wild, where vivid depictions of nature and the struggle for survival take center stage. They are set in a harsh, unforgiving world; both in nature and in a society lacking compassion or mercy. They give an insight into American society at the beginning of the 20th century, portraying the raw, relentless life of the Klondike and the transformation of man and animal shaped by both wilderness and civilization. (Jutta Sonnberger)

Recently turned into a Hollywood movie, this novel has been one of my favorites for years. According to King, it was originally inspired by the draft for the Vietnam War, but it certainly holds up even utterly divorced from that context. A thorough, unflinching and still not cruel examination of why young men in America willingly throw their lives away, and what multifaceted bonds they form with each other on their way to death. (Finn Dittmer)

This novel is contemporary autofiction and an updated (2023) version of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. Set in Silicon Valley it gives an insight to the precarious work/life conditions under the pressures of start-up tech-bro culture from the perspective of Cassie, the novel’s female protagonist, and does so with a side of sci-fi gothic horror. The novel captures contemporary American performance culture’s essence from the POV of the invisible and underpaid work force. (Öznur Özdal)

Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad (2010) traces a web of characters over several decades and generations, hunting fame and constantly remaking themselves. It incorporates many different styles, voices, and media, strongly referencing music(ality) and pop culture, managing to capture that restless American lifestyle, built on change, ambition, and the belief in finally, eventually, „making it." As much as it is about that dream and idea of „Americanness", it is also about where they can take people and at what cost. (Franziska Wolf)

This short essay, for me, encapsulates the difficulty of America’s self-understanding as a democratic nation with one of the greatest metaphors of all time: Bread. What kinds of intellectual, societal, and physical nourishment does a nation need to thrive? While written in 1963, it reads as an all-time classic that couldn’t be truer today. (Svenja Engelmann-Kewitz)

Set in New York City in the turbulent 1960s, in this multigenerational novel Marco Stanley Fogg by chance uncovers a family history full of unbelievable stories and dark secrets. While learning about the lives of his long-lost father and grandfather and eventually retracing their travels across the continent, Marco also renegotiates his relation to America and the significance of its history for his own identity, from the Native Americans to the Wild West to the Moon landing. (Clara Petino)

Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad makes the reality of slavery in the 19^th century tangible. Opposed to dry facts, history is mediated through the emotionally charged perspective and story of the protagonist Cora. Yet, the book does not just offer a glimpse into the past but invites to dwell on contemporary dilemmas such as racism, freedom, and social inequality. Trigger warning: please bear in mind that this no easy read due to its topic. (Marie von Lobenstein)

This novel, which made the author famous overnight, is exciting, sometimes heartbreaking, and complex at the same time. A plurality of indigenous voices from various generations tells you what it means to live on a reservation in North Dakota. The plot follows the members of the Kashpaw and Lamartine clans over the period from 1934 to 1984. Trauma, (internalized) colonial oppression, storytelling, indigenous myths, love and jealousy, grotesque and sometimes funny adventures – Louise Erdrich brings all of that together in a breathtaking masterpiece. (Georg Schiller)