123211 VO Literatures in English (2014W)

This lecture course will provide a survey both of theoretical approaches to indigenous North American literatures and cultures and of the practical history and literary history of Native Americans and First Nations in the U.S. and Canada.
In a combination of surveys and more detailed readings, students will be familiarized with indigenous American texts of all genres, including fiction, life writing, poetry, drama, and critical theory, in their specific historical contexts. Thus, the lecture will also provide an overview of the interrelations between Native North American history and literary production from the late 18th century to the present. In examining issues of land, religion, sovereignty, agency, cultural memory, as well as national and transnational identities, we will also include examples from contemporary Native American visual arts and film. Writers to be looked at in more detail include Samson Occom, William Apess, Leslie Marmon Silko, N. Scott Momaday, James Welch, Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich, Diane Glancy, Joy Harjo, Wendy Rose, and Gerald Vizenor.