By Ellen Robison University of Wisconsin–Madison Author and scholar Reza Aslan argues that “literature offers not just a window into the culture of diverse regions, but also the society, the politics; it’s the only place where we can keep track of ideas.”[1] Though Aslan lives and writes in the 21st century, this understanding of literature as reflective of society is by no means modern itself; it has long been understood that authors’ writing is situated by their social identities—their identifications…