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[lacuna]

The following may or may not be relevant to non-MLA fields:

During the past two job market cycles, I've noticed an increasing number of JIL advertisements for contemporary ethnic American lit positions "with secondary specialization in contemporary am lit."  At the same time, I've noticed a diminishing number of contemporary am lit positions. 

To a certain extent, this development makes perfect sense.  Ethnic am lit, after all, constitutes a fundamental component of contemporary am lit.  Moreover, at the risk of sounding essentialist, such advertisements increase the likelihood of a diversity hire; a university stands a much better chance of improving its ethnic diversity with a 20th century search than with a medieval search.  Plus, it offers a cash-starved dept the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. 

At the same time, I'm struggling to wrap my head around the order of priority.

For example (taken at random from the Chronicle job search):

"Longwood University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of English position to begin August 2009. Specialist in African American or other Ethnic literatures. Secondary interest in contemporary American Literature..."

Has contemporary Am lit (in all its diversity) become a "secondary interest"? 

[systeme_d_]

I'm not in Lit, but we do the same thing in my field when advertising a job.   For us, it is actually not an overt bid for minority applicants, but is rather meant to address a current departmental need for faculty able to teach upper level classes in (minority whatever), while making clear that we expect the applicants to be able to teach introductory classes that have a wider scope and broader context (American whatever).

[yellowtractor]

Two birds with one stone.  Or even three or four birds, if our putative specialist in African American literature can also teach Anglo-Saxon and the 18th-century novel.

It's the increasingly frenzied scramble to cover more bases with fewer resources, financially speaking.  I wouldn't read anything more delightful or dire into it, though if a department asks for A with a sideline in B, of course you can assume that, at the moment the job ad was composed, A was/is more important.

[mended_drum]

We advertised for such a position a few years ago, and the explanation was simple:  we already had someone who does contemporary American lit, but we desperately needed to offer something in ethnic American.  As a small LAC, we do need some flexibility, however, and the hire did have to be able to work a bit outside of his or her research area in order to teach first- and second-year level courses.  Thus, ethnic American literature, but with more "traditional" American lit as well, probably to be used for the survey courses.  That gives us two contemporary lit people, one of whom works in ethnic lit.

And none of that had anything to do with covering medieval lit, of course.  We've been lucky not to have to give up coverage of any historical period in general.

[globalview]

The structuring you describe sounds like the jobs for which I have received offers. I certainly benefit from this recipe--but then, so do the universities!