Research Seminar for Literature Majors (397-0-20)

Topic

Indigenous Archives, Experimental Forms

Instructors

Kelly E Wisecup

Meeting Info

Harris Hall L05: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

How do Indigenous writers use archives as a site of experimentation with artistic forms and media, from personal narrative to collage to performance to installation art? Indigenous writers have taken on the power and histories of archives—from national libraries like the Library of Congress to small, local historical societies to anthropological repositories—and made experimental literatures that challenge these institutions of power and memory. Examples include Pequot William Apess's 19th century texts assembled out of extracts from newspapers and testimonies from other Pequots to the Oglala Lakota poet Layli Long Soldier's intervention in legal documents at the level of the page in Whereas to Deborah Miranda's (Ohlone-Costanoan Esselen Nation of California) assemblage of personal and institutional histories in her memoir Bad Indians. This seminar pairs Indigenous literatures with archival theory and practice. We will develop our own archival practices by learning how to work with materials in Northwestern's Special Collections, how to identify and interpret archival materials, how to develop a research question in conversation with archival research and theoretical readings, and how to develop a sustained argument with strong evidence.

Teaching Method

Seminar discussions, hands-on workshops, classes in Special Collections.

Class Materials (Required)

Deborah Miranda, Bad Indians (ISBN 9781597145862)
LeAnne Howe, Miko Kings (9781879960787)
Beth Piatote, The Beadworkers (9781640094277)
Blaire Morseau/ Simon Pokagon, As Sacred to Us (9781611864625)

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Department Majors Only

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Department Majors Only. No Freshmen/First Years.