This course will introduce you to the history and culture of Native Americans and their representations in US-American literature. We will closely analyze and discuss literary works written by both Native Americans and non-native Americans, including poems, short stories, speeches, a novel (James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans) and shorter excerpts from other novels.
Key issues such as racial stereotyping, identity, assimilation and the ongoing struggle for cultural sovereignty Native American communities still face today will be examined through the lens of US literature. While the course will focus on literature from the period known as American Romanticism, we will also examine key narratives from earlier and later periods. The course will provide a first overview on the presentation of indigenous nations in the literary work of the 'Euro-Western' settlers and show how indigenous authors challenged stereotypes and false ideas about Native American life and culture.
Please read The Last of the Mohicans before the start of the course. Everything else will be provided here in Moodle.
Assessment/requirements: active participation, reading, short written assignments, and a presentation or a final three-page paper.
- Kursleiter/in: Pia Aleithe