The Rhetoric of Diversity and the Traditions of American Literary Study

This book begins with an historical overview of the development of the concept of multiculturalism as it has been implemented in the American university. The book defines American multiculturalism through a focus on the ways theories and practices of historical non-critical multiculturalism have been used in the discourse of academic English departments. The author maps the problematic relationship between radical theory and institutional practices which impedes the development of a critical multiculturalism that engages both literary theory and pedagogy. This critical multicultural theory and practice work to reconsider the traditional value of difference. _