Spring 2012

Description

In this course, we will read poetry, histories, short stories, and novels by Native Americans from Canada, the United States, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru from the seventeenth century to the present. We will explore what "native" means in these different cultural contexts and ask what--if anything-there is in these texts that might appropriately be characterized as "Native American." For this purpose, we will investigate how writers respond to the various historical and social experiences of Native peoples in the hemisphere in their respective national (or imperial) contexts, focus on their use of traditional non-alphabetical textualities (oratory, quipu, wampum, pictographs, etc.) and pay particular attention to the issues of literary authorship, political resistance, and ethnography. Readings include traditional texts such as the Maya Popol Vuh and texts by single authors such as Vine Deloria, N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Miguel Angel Asturias, Basil Johnston, Chrystos, Louise Erdrich, Gerald Vizenor, D'Arcy McNickle, James Welsh, Hyemeyohsts Storm, Mourning Dove, Rigoberta Menchu, and Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala.