Course Syllabus
SYLLABUS (updated June 16)
ZOOM (passcode: 8755178599)
SLIDES (not to be shared or disseminated without permission)
ENG S-238: Indigenous Literatures
Harvard Summer School 2022
Mondays & Wednesdays / 8:30-11:30 am Eastern
June 22-August 5, 2022
Rebecca H. Hogue, PhD
(she/they)
Office: Barker Center #43
Office Hours: Mondays 3-4 pm and by appointment
rhogue@fas.harvard.edu
“Te wehenga o Rangi Raua ko Papa (The Separation of Rangi and Papa),” Cliff Whiting (Maori), 1976.
This course will introduce fiction and poetry in only a small sampling of the over 1000 native nations across North America and Oceania. Thematically we will consider a variety of contemporary issues that impact Indigenous story-telling today: environmental and social justice; gender and sexuality; land rights and city life; war and extractive capitalism; the law and tribal recognition, and much more. In our readings, we will ask, how do the oral, visual, sonic, cosmological, environmental, or political contexts influence contemporary Indigenous authors and their writing? Course texts will include poetry by Joy Harjo (Muscogee), Haunani-Kay Trask (Kanaka Maoli), Linda Hogan (Chickasaw), Lucy Tapahanso (Diné), Craig Santos Perez (CHamoru), Deborah Miranda (Esselen and Chumash), and Natalie Diaz (Mojave), as well as fiction by Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo), Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), Patricia Grace (Maori), Albert Wendt (Samoa), Epeli Hauʻofa (Tonga), Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho), and Darcy Little Badger (Lipan Apache). With attention to specific histories and traditions, while also considering shared experiences, we will explore how literature plays a role in expressing contemporary Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination.
Assignments and Grading:
Participation: This is a seminar course, so contributing to discussions and debates is essential. Please be prepared to contribute to every class. If you find this challenging for any reason please contact me so that we can talk through strategies to employ. As part of your participation grade, you will write one Discussion Post (150-300 words of questions, comments, reactions, or analysis) per week by 8 am on the day of class. These are low-stakes assignments graded on completion.
Response Papers: These will be short analysis papers (approximately 2 double spaced pages)—informal opportunities to practice specific reading and analysis skills. These will be given feedback and graded on completion.
Paper One: One shorter paper (4-5 pages) will be due during the course of the term (see schedule). More information will be distributed closer to the date. This paper will be given letter grades.
Final Project Proposal: A one-page project proposal will be included as part of the drafting process for the Final Project.
Final Project Presentation: A final research presentation will be due at the end of the term, where students will put secondary sources into conversation with literary primary sources. Students will choose to research and analyze any question related to Indigenous Literatures (e.g. an author history or influences; formal aspects of a novel or poem; literary traditions, movements, awards, or controversies). The final presentation will consist of three total parts: two in the presentation, and one written. In the presentation: 1. The Key Question and Key Concepts of your topic 2. An Abundant Tangent (something related but a fun detail you learned in your research). For the written portion, a 4-5 page critical reflection that discusses and analyzes what you learned in your topic in relationship to the broader themes from the course.
Participation: 25%
Response papers: 10%
Paper One: 25%
Final proposal: 5%
Final Project: 35%
Required texts (purchased online). I recommend using bookfinder.com:
Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo) (1977)
Habitat Threshold, Craig Santos Perez (CHamoru) (2018)
The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) (2020)
There, There, Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho) (2018)
Bad Indians, Deborah Miranda (Esselen and Chumash) (2012)
Postcolonial Love Poem, Natalie Diaz (Mojave) (2020)
All texts with an asterisk (*) will be made available on the Canvas site on the Home page. All other texts should be purchased in either paperback/hardback, digital, or audiobook formats. Any edition is acceptable. If you encounter any problems accessing course material, please get in touch with me.
Course Schedule
Please note that the first week is a Wednesday / Friday schedule.
Week 1 Introduction: Indigenous Poetics and the Environment
Wednesday, June 22
- Selected poems, Joy Harjo "Don't Bother the Earth Spirit", Haunani-Kay Trask "The Broken Gourd", Luci Tapahanso "In 1864", Linda Hogan "Trail of Tears: Our Removal"*
- Daniel Heath Justice, Why Indigenous Literature Matters (Preface and Introduction; Appendix optional)
- Optional:
- “Decolonization is not a Metaphor,” Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang (2012), pp. 1-40
- Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples, Linda Tuhiwai Smith
- Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples, Gregory Younging
- Resources on Native American and Indigenous Affairs FAQ, UCLA
- Joy Harjo 101
- Day 1 Recording. Please note that this recording should not be disseminated in any form.
Friday, June 24
- Habitat Threshold, Craig Santos Perez (CHamoru) (2018)
- "Praise Song for Oceania"
- Optional Resource: "New Pacific Islander Poetry" and "Pacific Islander Poetry and Culture"
- Optional Resource: "Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, Chthulucene: Making Kin"
- Day 2 Recording
Response Paper #1: Close Reading due Friday by 11:59 pm
Week 2 History, War, and Healing
Monday, June 27
- Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo) (1977)
- Optional: Interview with Leslie Marmon Silko, Silko in the Native American Renaissance, Silko Bibliographies Resource [must be signed in to Hollis]
- Day 3 Recording
Wednesday, June 29
- Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo) (1977)
Response Paper #2: Close Reading due Friday by 11:59 pm
Week 3 Oceanic Storytelling, Environmental Justice
Monday, July 4
- No School: Federal Holiday
Wednesday, July 6
- Patricia Grace (Maori), Albert Wendt (Samoan), and Epeli Hauʻofa (Tongan)*
- "Towards a New Oceania" Albert Wendt [an essay on what Oceania is, has been, and is becoming in the 1970s' and, for some countries in the Pacific, in the post-colonial era]
- Wendt: Exam Failure Praying [short fiction] and Exam Time New Zealand [poem]
- Hau'ofa: "Blood in the Kava Bowl" [poem] and "Bopeep's Bells" [short fiction]
- Grace: Sun's Marbles [short fiction]
- Optional: [helpful for understanding Grace]: The Separation of Ranginui and Papatuanuku short video
- July 6 Recording
Week 4 Termination and Tribal Sovereignty
Monday, July 11
- The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) (2020)
- Optional: Dept. of Justice "Indian Resources Timeline"
- July 11 Recording
Wednesday, July 13
- The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) (2020)
- July 13 Recording
PAPER #1 due Friday by 11:59 pm
Week 5 Urban Life and Social Justice
Monday, July 18
- There, There, Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho) (2018)
- Optional: Iron Eyes Cody Commercial
- July 18 Recording
Wednesday, July 20
- There, There, Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho) (2018)
- Optional: PMLA Special Section "On Tommy Orange's There There" [must be signed in to Hollis]
- July 20 Recording
FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL due Friday by 11:59 pm
Week 6 Indigenous Feminisms and Queer Ecologies
Monday, July 25
- Bad Indians, Deborah Miranda (Esselen and Chumash) (2012)
- Special Guest Speaker! Prof. Lydia M. Heberling
- Optional: Surviving Catastrophe: Traveling with Coyote in Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir
Wednesday, July 27
- Postcolonial Love Poem, Natalie Diaz (Mojave) (2020)
Week 7 #MMIW, Reparative Justice, and Graphic Fiction
Monday, August 1
- Deer Woman: An Anthology, Darcy Little Badger (Lipan Apache) (2017)*
- Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection
- Optional: Understanding Comics [chapters 1 and 2]
Wednesday, August 3
- Class Presentations and Final Discussion
- Final Presentations Zoom Recording
FINAL PROJECT due Friday by 11:59 pm