Transnationalism and the Making of Native American Literature
Transnationalism and the Making of Native American Literature
A University of Michigan Symposium
Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11, Palmer Commons
Keynote lectures by Philip Deloria (Friday 1 PM) and Gerald Vizenor (Saturday 1 PM)
This symposium will examine the influence of globalization and transnationalism on the "making" of Native American literature. Including fourteen distinguished scholars and writers, this meeting will engage the reigning critical paradigm in Native American literary studies–tribal nationalism–and consider the promises (or potential pitfalls) of taking more decidedly transnational approaches to the production and criticism of Native American literature in a global age.
Distinguishing between “Native American” and “Indigenous,” we will focus on the transnational dimensions and implications of published or performed writing and oratory by Natives working in the North American context. Among other questions, we will ask: what transnational technologies, laws, and cultural forces have influenced the making of Native American literature, and how? Conversely, how has Native American literature influenced the making of other literatures, aesthetics, rhetorical traditions and political movements around the world? And what is at stake in these very questions?
We will pursue these issues and the ethical and political questions they broach in four plenary panels–and two keynote lectures–across two days. These topics will include theories of transnationalism in literary, cultural, and Native American studies, as well as histories and representations of Indian travels across the “Red Atlantic” and elsewhere. We will explore histories of the book and other communication technologies in Native America, and move toward an integrative yet critical approach to global indigenous identities, cultures, and politics.
Speakers:
Chadwick Allen - Eric Cheyfitz - Matt Cohen - Philip Deloria - Kate Flint
Shari Huhndorf - Maureen Konkle - Arnold Krupat - Scott Richard Lyons
Elvira Pulitano - Phillip H. Round - Sean Kicummah Teuton
Gerald Vizenor - Jace Weaver
All events are free and open to the public. Full schedule
Sponsored by:
College of Literature, Science and the Arts
Rackham Graduate School
Office of Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
Department of English Language and Literature
Department of American Culture
Native American Studies Program
Office of the Vice President for Research
American Indian Studies Interdisciplinary Group
National Center for Institutional Diversity
Institute for the Humanities
Eisenberg Institute
Department of History
Department of Anthropology
