Holding Their Own: Perspectives on the Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the United States

Abstract

This review critically examines Holding Their Own: Perspectives on the Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the United States, edited by Dorothea Fischer-Homung and Heike Raphael-Hernandez. The collection offers a valuable 'outsider's perspective' on American multi-ethnic literatures, situating them within an international framework and challenging U.S.-centric understandings. This review argues that European scholars' analyses provide reciprocal lessons for Europe in addressing its own multicultural challenges. The book is praised for its thematic breadth, though it acknowledges structural inconsistencies. Organized around five central themes—double consciousness, home/place/space, cultural difference, politics and poetics of opposition, and marginality—the collection enriches discussions on identity formation and resistance through postcolonial and multiculturalist theories.