This paper explores the ways cultural appropriation has existed in literature from the time of Sylvia Plath's poem \"Daddy\" to the present, with the publication of Jeanine Cummins's novel American Dirt. After dissecting the motives behind the exploitation of traumatic events and acknowledging the consequences appropriation has on the individuals it is portraying, the inclusion of NoViolet Bulawayo's novel We Need New Names proposes a way for contemporary literature to revolve around cultures without silencing voices and allowing individual identities to shine in the texts.
","abstract_html":"<p>This paper explores the ways cultural appropriation has existed in literature from the time of Sylvia Plath's poem "Daddy" to the present, with the publication of Jeanine Cummins's novel <em>American Dirt</em>. After dissecting the motives behind the exploitation of traumatic events and acknowledging the consequences appropriation has on the individuals it is portraying, the inclusion of NoViolet Bulawayo's novel <em>We Need New Names</em> proposes a way for contemporary literature to revolve around cultures without silencing voices and allowing individual identities to shine in the texts.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Meza, Wendy"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (M.A.)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Harold Aram Veeser","Robert Higney","Andras Kisery"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:28Z","subjects":["Cultural Appropriation","Contemporary Literature","Migration","Exploitation","Identity","Literary Prize Culture","English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/843","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Harold Aram Veeser","Robert Higney","Andras Kisery"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Meza, Wendy"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-06-05T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Cultural Appropriation","Contemporary Literature","Migration","Exploitation","Identity","Literary Prize Culture","English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/843"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This paper explores the ways cultural appropriation has existed in literature from the time of Sylvia Plath's poem \"Daddy\" to the present, with the publication of Jeanine Cummins's novel American Dirt. After dissecting the motives behind the exploitation of traumatic events and acknowledging the consequences appropriation has on the individuals it is portraying, the inclusion of NoViolet Bulawayo's novel We Need New Names proposes a way for contemporary literature to revolve around cultures without silencing voices and allowing individual identities to shine in the texts.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Process of Cultural Appropriation in Literature and How It Can Be Changed"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Harold Aram Veeser","Robert Higney","Andras Kisery"],"dc:creator":["Meza, Wendy"],"dc:date.available":["2021-06-05T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This paper explores the ways cultural appropriation has existed in literature from the time of Sylvia Plath's poem \"Daddy\" to the present, with the publication of Jeanine Cummins's novel American Dirt. After dissecting the motives behind the exploitation of traumatic events and acknowledging the consequences appropriation has on the individuals it is portraying, the inclusion of NoViolet Bulawayo's novel We Need New Names proposes a way for contemporary literature to revolve around cultures without silencing voices and allowing individual identities to shine in the texts.
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