The Cambridge History of Native American Literature

An authoritative new history of Native American literature that places it within (rather than apart from) US settler space.

Melanie Benson Taylor (Edited by)

9781108482059, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 September 2020

562 pages
23.5 x 16 x 3 cm, 1.03 kg

'… effectively reminds the reader of the inherently interdisciplinary nature of the field. This volume serves as both a thoughtful survey of the state of the field and a bold pronouncement of where it is headed.' J. J. Donahue, Choice

Native American literature has always been uniquely embattled. It is marked by divergent opinions about what constitutes authenticity, sovereignty, and even literature.  It announces a culture beset by paradox: simultaneously primordial and postmodern; oral and inscribed; outmoded and novel. Its texts are a site of political struggle, shifting to meet external and internal expectations. This Cambridge History endeavors to capture and question the contested character of Indigenous texts and the way they are evaluated. It delineates significant periods of literary and cultural development in four sections: “Traces & Removals” (pre-1870s); “Assimilation and Modernity” (1879-1967); “Native American Renaissance” (post-1960s); and “Visions & Revisions” (21st century). These rubrics highlight how Native literatures have evolved alongside major transitions in federal policy toward the Indian, and via contact with broader cultural phenomena such, as the American Civil Rights movement. There is a balance between a history of canonical authors and traditions, introducing less-studied works and themes, and foregrounding critical discussions, approaches, and controversies.

Introduction What Was Native American Literature? Melanie Benson Taylor
Part I. Traces and Removals (Pre-1870S): 1. Indigenous Language and the Origins of American Literary History Sarah Rivett
2. Unsettling Colonial Temporalities: Oral Traditions and Indigenous Literature Gesa Mackenthun
3. Early Native American Literature and Hemispheric Studies Ralph Bauer
4. Performative Cultures of Early America Laura Mielke
5. Nineteenth-Century American Indian Newspapers and the Construction of Sovereignty Oliver Scheiding
6. Indigenous Literacies in Early New England Hilary Wyss
Part II. Assimilation and Modernity (1879-1967): 7. The Multiplicity of Early American Indian Poetry Robert Dale Parker
8. Native American Literature in the 1930s Benjamin Balthaser
9. Black-Indian Literature under Jim Crow Keely Byars-Nichols
10. Transatlantic Modernity and Native Performance Kate Flint
11. American Indian Literature and Post-Revolutionary Mexico James Cox
12. I K? Mau Mau(Standing Together): Native Hawaiian Literary Politics Ku'ualoha Ho'omanawanui
13. Native Women's Writing and Law Beth Piatote
Part III. Native American Renaissance (Post-1960s): 14. Rethinking the Native American Renaissance: Texts and Contexts A. Robert Lee
15. Marginally Mainstream: Momaday, Silko, Erdrich, and Alexie Nancy Peterson
16. Indigenous Lives, Visual Autobiographies Hertha Sweet Wong
17. Indigenous Writing in Canada Sophie McCall
18. Reservation Realities and Myths in American Literary History David Treuer
19. Mapping the Future: Indigenous Feminism Shari Huhndorf
20. Queer Sovereignty Lisa Tatonetti
21. Contemporary Indigenous American Poetry Dean Rader
22. Contemporary Native North American Drama Brigit Däwes
Part IV. Visions and Revisions: 21st Century Prospects: 21st Century Prospects: 23. Native American Horror, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction Eric Gary Anderson
24. Charting Comparative Indigenous Traditions Chadwick Allen
25. The Global Correspondence of Native American Literatures Eric Cheyfitz
26. Indigenizing the Internet Deborah Madsen
27. Indigenous Futures beyond the Sovereignty Debate Jodi Byrd
28. Can You See the Indian? Stephen Graham Jones
29. The Leftovers Paul Chaat Smith.

Subject Areas: Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers [DSK], Literary studies: general [DSB], Literary theory [DSA]