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About the Class

School Notebook

Course Description

Indigenous literatures have long suffered from limited readings as ways of accessing information about Indigenous peoples, rather than as works of literature in their own right where considering decisions of genre, style, audience, and more are as essential as the topics, values, and insights the works share. In the latter half of the 20th century, the Native American novel was considered the main way Indigenous authors were able to let their voices be heard and to push back on the stereotypes and common negative tropes in non-Native literary representations of Indigenous peoples. In the 21st century, other genres by Native authors are gaining access to publications, receiving critical acclaim, and achieving popularity with general audiences. As such, this class will focus on contemporary Native non-fiction and poetry, widely published and read in literary journals as well as many online platforms, as well as a novel.

 

 

Guided by the organizing questions of Daniel Heath Justice’s 2018 critical work Why Indigenous Literatures Matter (“How Do We Learn to Be Human? -- How Do We Behave as Good Relatives? -- How Do We Become Good Ancestors? -- How Do We Learn to Live Together?”), we will be reading, discussing, and writing about 21st century Turtle Island literatures. From excerpts from Shapes of Native Non-Fiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers (2019), New Poets of Native Nations (2019), and the Métis YA-novel The Marrow Thieves (2018), we will ask how, through the decisions authors made in the crafting of their work, they might offer insight into the guiding questions Justice offers.

Required Texts

  • Shapes of Native Non-Fiction (Elissa Washuta & Theresa Warburton, eds)

  • New Poets of Native Nations (Heid Erdrich, ed)

  • The Marrow Thieves (Cherie Dimaline)

And Suggested Texts

  • Why Indigenous Literatures Matter (Daniel Heath Justice)

  • An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz)

Learning Objectives

• Students develop insight into how decisions of craft affect a literary text’s meaning, expression, and effectiveness.

• Students have an appreciation for and ability to analyze the relationship of contemporary American Indian literary forms, to their contemporary, historical, political, cultural contexts.

• Students develop more sophisticated discussion and presentation skills in the interest of being better able to construct and defend their own insights and interpretations.

Instructor, Dr. Laura M. De Vos

Dr. Laura De Vos lectures in the American Indian Studies Department and the English Department at UW Seattle and in the American & Ethnic Studies Department at UW Bothell.

Ph.D., English Literature and Language, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 2020.

M.A., English, University of Antwerp, Belgium, 2009.

M.E., Cultural Management, University of Antwerp, Belgium, 2010.

Gender Studies, University of Utrecht, Netherlands, 2013.

 

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