BA Advanced Course         Spring Semester                       leizarov@post.tau.ac.il            

This course explores the image of the Indian in literary texts written by and about Native Americans throughout the twentieth century. It presents the Indian’s importance to the nationalist sentiment, discusses popular constructions of Native Americans, analyses Native American writers’ engagement with Indian stereotypes and images, and raises questions about cultural authenticity in the context of identity politics.

Course requirements:

Active participation in class

A midterm paper

A final exam

Texts:

D’Arcy McNickle, “Hard Riding”

D.H. Lawrence, “The Woman Who Rode Away”

Willa Cather, The Professor’s House

Ella Car Deloria, from Waterlily

Mourning Dove, from Cogewea The Half-Blood, A Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle Range

Eudora Welty, “Keela, or the Indian Maiden”

William Faulkner, Indian Stories

N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn

James Welch, from Fools Crow

Forrest Carter, from The Education of Little Tree

Thomas King, “A Seat in the Garden”

Sherman Alexie, “Dear John Wayne”