Overview

In this seminar we will examine the rhetorical and narrative strategies used by Native American writers to challenge and refigure established conventions of writing, representing the past, and depicting the "Indian." Although written forms of literature are not indigenous to Native American cultures, which developed their own oral traditions, for the last 150 years or so Native American artists have written novels, short stories, and poetry that address the political, historical, and cultural experiences of native peoples. Our study will situate these writings in relation to oral traditions, ethnography, Euro-American literary traditions, and the World Wide Web. In this course, which is affiliated with the English Department's Transcriptions project, students will utilize the Web to develop knowledge about Native American history and cultures essential for an understanding of their literatures. In addition, we will examine and test notions of the Internet as a new form of orality and tribalism against Native American understandings of these concepts. The course thus requires a willingness to learn more about and explore the Web.


Class Location and Time:
Girvetz 1116, MWF 11:00-11:50
Instructor's Office Hours:
South Hall 3432K, Wed Noon-1:00
Technology Help:
South Hall 2509, Fri 2:00-3:00
Required Texts (see Materials and Schedule):
Books are available from the UCSB Bookstore; links in this section are to descriptions on the NativeAuthors.com and Amazon.com sites. (Policy statement on links to commercial sites.)
Assignments (Details):
  • Website Evaluation
  • Online Discussion Responses
  • Group Web Project and Oral Presentation
  • Two Papers (5-7 pages each); One in Hypertext Format

This page is part of the Transcriptions Project
Page content by Chris Schedler | Graphic design by Eric Feay
Created 11/5/99 | Last revised 1/4/00

 

 

 

 

Policy on Links to Commercial Sites

Where useful, this course site links to the bookseller's or publisher's page carrying the most substantive additional information about a work at the time the link was created. Often such a page offers not only publishers' descriptions but tables of contents, reviews, and suggestions of related books. This is done as a service to students, and is not intended to endorse any particular commercial or other venture.

For links to publishers' sites from many nations, see Publishers' Catalogues Home Page. For an annotated guide and links to major online booksellers, see Best Big On-Line Bookstores. For online comparison shopping of books, see Acses. For other publisher and bookseller sites, see Voice of the Shuttle: Publishers.