Affects and Communities in Contemporary American Ethnic Novels

This book examines contemporary American ethnic novels through the lens of affect studies, focusing on the political and cultural implications of negative affects in literary representation.

Analyzing works by Native American, African American, Jewish American, Latinx, and Asian American writers since the Civil Rights era, it explores how affects such as anxiety, irritation, and alienation illuminate the predicaments of marginalized communities, including racial inequality, cultural erasure, and institutional discrimination. Drawing on affect theory, the book develops a nuanced approach to understanding the relationship between affect, politics, and literature. Through close readings of representative texts, it demonstrates that affects function not merely as personal feelings but as intuitive responses to structural contradictions and as expressions of a desire for emotional resonance and solidarity. Combining interdisciplinary theory with comparative literary analysis, the study argues that affective representation in ethnic novels helps construct “affective communities” grounded in shared experiences of marginalization and resistance. In doing so, it highlights literature’s potential to deepen empathy, challenge dominant narratives, and contribute to broader conversations about social justice in a multicultural society.

The book will appeal to scholars and students of American literature, particularly those interested in race, culture, contemporary fiction, and ethnic novels.

Wang Xiaoling is Professor of English at Shanghai International Studies University, China. Her research is primarily focused on contemporary American literature and cultural studies. Her recent publications with Routledge include A Study of Vladimir Nabokov’s Cosmopolitan Literary Thoughts and A Study of the Urban Poetics of Frank O’Hara.