NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE

In this class, we will read selected works of Native American literature (Including political writing, oral literature, autobiography, and contemporary fiction), as well as selected critical works that raise questions about the primary texts: questions of form, definition, and so on. The course is not a survey; though we’ll be reading a good number of texts, I’ve made no attempt to cover the “whole” range of Native American literatures. Not only is that impossible, but the very idea of wholeness is problematic in my eyes, particularly (as we will see) when discussing texts that fall under a heading so historically and theoretically troubles as that of “Native American literatures”. What we will do in the class, instead, is employ particular texts as occasions for reflection, descussin, and debate. In this way, eash studnet will have experienced enough of the range, complexity, and significance of Native American literatures to explore the field independently after the class comes to an end.