The Cambridge Companion to Native American Literature

An informative and wide-ranging overview of Native American literature from the 1770s to present day.

Joy Porter (Edited by), Kenneth M. Roemer (Edited by)

9780521822831, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 July 2005

368 pages, 4 b/w illus. 6 maps
23.6 x 15.8 x 3 cm, 0.71 kg

'… a highly informative volume. … well bound and clearly printed. … highly recommended for all libraries purchasing materials on North American literatures, culture and history.' Reference Reviews

Invisible, marginal, expected - these words trace the path of recognition for American Indian literature written in English since the late eighteenth century. This Companion chronicles and celebrates that trajectory by defining relevant institutional, historical, cultural, and gender contexts, by outlining the variety of genres written since the 1770s, and also by focusing on significant authors who established a place for Native literature in literary canons in the 1970s (Momaday, Silko, Welch, Ortiz, Vizenor), achieved international recognition in the 1980s (Erdrich), and performance-celebrity status in the 1990s (Harjo and Alexie). In addition to the seventeen chapters written by respected experts - Native and non-Native; American, British and European scholars - the Companion includes bio-bibliographies of forty authors, maps, suggestions for further reading, and a timeline which details major works of Native American literature and mainstream American literature, as well as significant social, cultural and historical events. An essential overview of this powerful literature.

Introduction Kenneth M. Roemer
Time line: literary, historical and cultural conjunctions Kenneth M. Roemer
Part I. Historical and Cultural Contexts: 1. Historical and cultural contexts to Native American literature Joy Porter
2. Translation and mediation David Murray
3. Women writers and gender issues Annette Van Dyke
Part II. Genre Contexts: 4. Non-fiction prose Bernd Peyer
5. Native American life writing Hertha D. Sweet Wong
6. America's indigenous poetry Norma C. Wilson
7. Pre-1968 fiction A. Lavonne Brown Ruoff
8. Fiction: 1968 to the present James Ruppert
9. American Indian theatre Ann Haugo
Part III. Individual Authors: 10. N. Scott Momaday: becoming the bear Chadwick Allen
11. Simon Ortiz: writing home Patricia Clark Smith
12. James Welch: identity, circumstance and chance Kathryn W. Shanley
13. Leslie Marmon Silko: storyteller Robert M. Nelson
14. Gerald Vizenor: postindian liberation Kimberly M. Blaeser
15. Louise Erdrich's storied universe Catherine Rainwater
16. Joy Harjo's poetry Laura Coltelli
17. Sherman Alexie: irony, intimacy, and agency David L. Moore
Bio-bibliographies
Further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]