20^th century wars and their enduring legacies have profoundly shaped Asian American literature and culture. We live in an age of perpetual war that permeates everyday life. Yet, stories about war are still told from the perspectives of nation states and those in positions of power. In this course, we will be reading fiction, poetry, and cultural criticism by Asian American authors who critique and reimagine the consequences of US wars in Asia and the Pacific, including but not limited to World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf Wars. While these wars might be understood as “history” in official records, their effects linger in personal and cultural memory. We will examine critical race and feminist approaches to militarism that consider how war intersects with race, gender, nation, and empire, as well as how authors—in dialogue with anti-war movements—articulate new ways to resist and heal from state violence. Course texts include a mix of novels, poetry, and scholarly criticism by authors such as Julie Otsuka, Maxine Hong Kingston, Joseph Han, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Mai Der Vang, Sunny Xiang, and Solmaz Sharif.