This seminar provides an introduction to and a selection of contemporary Native American/First Nations literary texts and visual artworks. The course will examine self-representations of Native American/First Nations authors and artists of today. We will discuss stereotypes and strategies of representations and resistance. Critical thinking will be encouraged with regard to simplistic white vs. red dichotomies. Potential counter-narratives and counter-imagery by Sherman Alexie, Tomson Highway, Rebecca Belmore, Kent Monkman, and others will be analysed in detail. This seminar thus aims at a revision of monolithic versions of Indigenousness in favor of Aboriginal diversity. The course shall furthermore enable students to continue to read and understand Native American/First Nations literature and visual arts as specifically context-related with regard to a national colonial history, a European-dominated settler society, pre-contact communal diversity and memory. Requirements: Students are expected to give short presentations and /or organize a session’s discussion. Continuous active participation and attendance is required and expected. Reading: A reader with most of the course material will be made available at Sprintout Copy Shop at Dorotheenstraße at the beginning of the summer semester. Recommended reading for a general orientation: Zapf, Hubert (ed.). Amerikanische Literaturgeschichte. 3rd edition. Stuttgart, Weimar: J.B. Metzler, 2010. Pages 393-421. Tillett, Rebecca. Contemporary Native American Literature.Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007. Registration: Please register for this seminar via e-mail to grunewaa@cms.hu-berlin.de, including your subjects of study and your semester. Office Hours: Please inquire after individual appointments via grunewaa@cms.hu-berlin.de. |
