Summer course proposal

Indian Affairs and the Novel in the Americas

This course aims to study the representation of the clash between white European and different Indian cultures in the Twentieth Century novel of the Americas.

It also aims to compare the representation of this problem in novel by First Nations authors and novels by authors of European origin interested in First Nation issues.

Specific aims:

a)In authors of European origin, this course aims to analyze:

-the idea of literature as political statement and a tool for resistance.

-the use of modernist experimental strategies in texts with a clear political aim.

-the revision of the idea of “good” and “bad” literature in combination with the idea of politically committed literature.

b) In authors of First Nations origin:

-the idea of literature as a means to help a culture survive its own way (another form of political statement).

-the fictional strategies (including modernist techniques) used to depict First Nations/European culture clash from different Indian Nations’ world view.

-the “reinvention of the enemy’s language”: marks of the corresponding First Nation world view in the use of the dominant culture language (English/Spanish) and of the European fictional forms.

Contents

A) Authors of European origin

1- Literature and political committment in authors of European origin.

2- Experiments in the politically committed novel.

3- Fragmentarism, lingüistic strategies and the market. The “Latin American boom” and the Indian problem in Latin American; the Indian influence, the Indians and American literature.

4- Popular genres revisited: the thriller, the new western.

Texts by USA authors:

-Pigs in Heaven, by Barbara Kingsolver.

-The Dark Wind, by Tony Hillerman.

-Some Flew Over the Cuckoo´s Nest by Ken Kesey

Texts by Latin American authors:

-Fuegia by Eduardo Belgrano Rawson

-Redoble por Rancas de Manuel Scorza.

-Memorias del fuego by Eduardo Galeano.

A-First Nations authors

1-Reinventing the enemy’s language: using English/Spanish to express a specific First Nation world view; using western strategies, techniques and fictional forms in the fight for the survival of difference.

2- Literature as a tool for survival. The concept of “story” and “language” as empowering. A different way of seeing the relationship between “words and things”.

3- Resistance, history and literature.

Texts by American authors:

-Gardens in the Dunes by Leslie Silko

-Tracks, by Louise Erdrich

-Watermelon Nights, by Greg Sarris.

-Mean Spirit, by Linda Hogan.

Texts by Latin American authors:

-Hombres de maíz, de Miguel Ángel Asturias.

-Los ríos profundos, de J. Arguedas.

Bibliography

-Allport, Gordon W. La naturaleza del prejuicio. Buenos Aires: Eudeba, 1977.

-Ammons, Elizabeth y White Park, Annette. Tricksterism in Turn of the Century American Literature. Tufts: New England, 1994.

-Anaya, Rodolfo (editor). Aztlán, Essays on the Chicano Homeland. University of New Mexico Press: Albuquerque, 1989.

-Ashcroft, Bill Griffiths, Gareth y Tiffin, Helen, The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures, Routledge, New Accents, 1989.

-Ashcroft, Bill; Griffiths, Gareth y Tiffin, Helen (editores) The Post Colonial Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 1998.

-Barre, Marie Chantal. Ideologías indigenistas y movimientos indios. México: S XXI, 1983.

-Barthes, Roland. Mythologies. Francia: Editions du Seuil, 1957.

-Bhabha, Homi. Nation and Narration, Londres, Routledge, 1990.

-Bighorse, Tiana. Bighorse, the warrior, edited by Noel Bennett, (sobre recuerdos del Long Walk de los Navajos, foreword de Barry Lopez). Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 1990.

-Billington, Ray Allen. Land of Savagery, Land of Promise. The European Image of the American Frontier. New York: 1981.

-Bordewich, Fergus M. Killing the White Man´s Indian. Reinventing Native Americans at the End of the Xxth Century. Anchor: New York, 1996.

-Colombres, Adolfo. La colonización cultural de la América indígena. Ecuador: Del Sol, 1976.

-Coltelli, Laura. Winged Words. American Indian Writers Speak. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1990.

-Cheyfitz, Eric. The Poetics of Imperialism, Translation and Colonization from The Tempest to Tarzan. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1997.

-Chomsky, Noam, Sobre el poder y la ideología, (Conferencias de Managua), Madrid, Visor, 1989.

-Deloria, Vine Jr. Custer Died for Your Sins. New York: 1970.

-Deloria, Vine Jr. God is Red. New York: Laurel, 1973.

-Embree, Edwin. Indians of the Americas. New York: Collier, 1970.

-Fiedler, Leslie. Love and Death in the American Novel, Stein and Day, 1960, 1966.

-Fiedler, Leslie: The Return of the Vanishing American, Stein and Day, 1968.

-Foucault, Michael. Vigilar y castigar, Madrid, Visor, 1994.

-Foucault, Michel. Genealogía del racismo, Altamira, Montevideo, 1992.

-Graulich, Melody. Yellow Woman by Leslie Marmon Silko. In Texts and Contexts by Women Writers. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1993.

-Green, Rayna. Women in American Indian Society. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1992.

-Gunn Allen, Paula. Studies in American Indian Literature: Critical Essays and Course Designs. New York: MLA, 1983.

-Gunn Allen, Paula. The Sacred Hoop. Boston: Beacon Press, 1986.

-Hazenhammond, Susan. Timelines of Native American History. Perigee: New York, 1997.

-Hertzberg, Hazel. The search for an American Indian Identity. USA: Syracuse University Press, 1971.

-Holden Kelley Jane. Mujeres Yaqui. México: Cultura Económica, 1980.

-Kusch, Rodolfo. América Profunda. Buenos Aires: Hachette, 1962.

-La Vonne Brown Ruoff. American Indian Literatures. Introduction, Bibliographic Review, Selected Bibliography. MLA: New York, 1990.

-Lindquist, Mark A. and Zanger, Martin. Buried Roots and Indestructible Seeds. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1994

-Lipsitz, George. The Possessive Investment in Whiteness. How White People Profit from Identity Politics. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998,

-McNickle, D'Arcy. Las tribus indias de los Estados Unidos. Buenos Aires: Eudeba, 1965.

-Menchú, Rigoberta. I, An Indian Woman in Guatemala. Verso: London, New York, 1984.

-Mitos indígenas. México: UNAM, 1979.

-Murray, David. Forked Tongues, Speech, Writing and Representation in North American Indian Texts. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1991.

-Nabokov, Peter. Native American Testimony, 1492-1992. New York: Viking Press, 1992.

-Nash, Gary. Pieles rojas, blancas y negras. Tres culturas en la formación de los Estados Unidos. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1989.

-Nischke, James. Circle, Consciousness and Culture. Arizona: Navajo Community College Press, 1984.

-Owens, Louis. Other Destinies: Understanding the American Indian Novel. Oklahoma: Norman, 1992.

-Portilla, Miguel León. El reverso de la conquista. México: 1963.

-Pratt, Mary Louise. Ojos Imperiales, literatura de viajes y transculturación. Quilmes, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, 1997.

-Radin, Paul. The Trickster. New York: Shocken, 1972.

-Ribeiro, Darcy. Indianidades y Venutopías. Buenos Aires: Del Sol, 1988.

-Said, Edward W: Beginnings: Intention and Method, New York, Columbia University Press, 1985.

-Said, Edward W: Culture and Imperialism, USA: Random House, 1994.

-Scherzer, Joe (editor). Native American Discourse.(Poetics and Rhetoric)´. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

-Scholer, Bo (editor). Coyote was Here, (essays on contemporary Native American Literary and Political Mobilization). USA: University of Aarkus Press, 1984.

-Silko, Leslie Marmon. Yellow Woman and a Beauty of Spirit. Essays on Native American Life Today. Touchstone: New York, 1996.

-Smith, Jeanne Rosier. Writing Tricksters. University of California Press: Berkeley, 1997.

-Tesler, Mario. Racismo contra el indio en la Argentina reciente. Buenos Aires: Corregidor, 1989.

-Todorov, Tzvetan y otros. Cruce de culturas y mestizaje cultural. Madrid: Jucar, 1988.

-Todorov, Tzvetan. La conquista de América. El problema del Otro. Siglo XXI, México, 1991.

-Todorov, Tzvetan. Nosotros y los otros. México: Siglo XXI, 1991.

-Velie, Alan. Four American Literary Masters. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982. (On Nathaniel Scott Momaday, James Welch, Leslie Marmon Silko, Gerald Vizenor).

-Wallace, Anthony. The Death and Rebirth of the Seneca. New York: Vintage, 1972.

-Zeraffa, Michel. Novela y sociedad. Buenos Aires: Amorrortu, 1973.

-Literary Texts

-Arguedas, José María. Los ríos profundos. Losada, Buenos Aires, 1978.

-Asturias, Miguel Ángel. Hombres de maíz, Alianza editorial, 1998.

-Belgrano Rawson, Eduardo. Fuegia, Sudamericana, Buenos Aires, 1991.

-Scorza, Manuel. Redoble por Rancas, Plaza y Janés, España, 1983 (first edition, 1970).

-Erdrich, Louise. Tracks. New York: Henry Holt, 1988.

-Galeano, Eduardo. Memorias del fuego (tomos 1 y 2), Catálogos, 2000.

-Hillerman, Tony. The Dark Wind, Harperpaperbacks, 1982.

-Hogan, Linda. Mean Spirit, New York: Ivy Books, 1990.

-Hogan, Linda. Mean Spirit. New York: Ivy Books, 1990.

-Kesey, Ken. Some Flew Over the Cuckoo´s Nest. Londres: Picador, 1972 (first edition 1962)

-Kingsolver, Barbara. Pigs in Heaven, New York: Harper and Collins, 1993

-Sarris, Greg. Watermelon Nights. New York: Hyperion, 1998.

-Silko, Leslie Marmon. Gardens in the Dunes. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Summary

-Name: Márgara Averbach. Doctora en Letras (Similar to PhD in Literature), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

-Address: Paso 240. (1832) Lomas de Zamora

Provincia de Buenos Aires. Argentina.

-Phone Number: 4243-6408. (054. 11)

Fax: 4245-1401 (054 11)

-email: margara@ insel.com.ar

Degrees

-Doctora en Letras. Diploma de Honor of the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras of University of Buenos Aires. Marks: 9,1.

-Traductora Literaria y Técnico científica en inglés. Instituto Superior en Lenguas Vivas "Juan Ramón Fernández". Marks: 8,3

Research:

Research in papers and presentations on:

Ethnic literature in the United States of America, especially Native American Literature. Also, some papers on African American Literature and Jewish American Literature. Comparisons between Native American novels and novels with Native Argentinian or SouthAmerican subject matter. Literary translation and the teaching of literary translation.

-45 papers in Meetings and Conferences on Translation and US Literature. 31 in National Meetings and 14 in International ones, including:

.II Jornadas de la Asociación Paraguaya de Estudios Americanos. Asunción, April, 1987.

.Primer Congreso Binacional Chileno-Argentino de Estudios Americanos, November, 1991, Valdivia, Chile.

.I Congreso Internacional de la Asociación de Difusión de Culturas Negras, Hotel Panamericano, September, 7th to 11, 1993.

.Modern Language Association in Toronto, December, 27th to 30th, 1993.

.American Studies Association, in Pittsburg, November, 9th to 12th, 1995.

.IX Jornada de Estudos Americanos de Asociación Brasileña de Estudios Americanos. Porto Alegre, June, 19th to 21st, 1996.

ABRAPUI Senapulli, Atibaia, Brasil, January, 25th to 31th, 1997.

.X Jornada de Estudos Americanos de la Asociación Brasileña de Estudios Americanos en Porto Alegre. August, 1998.

.American Studies Association Meeting in Seattle, Washington, USA, 19^th to 22^nd of November, 1998.

.Southwestern/Texas Popular Culture Association. Albuquerque, New Mexico, 9^th to 12^th February, 2000.

.XI Jornada de Estudos Americanos de Asociación Brasileña de Estudios Americanos. Niteroi, Rio, 14 al 16 de junio de 2000.

-Course on American Literature, 350 hours, scholarship by USIA in UCSB, Summer, 1997.

Translation:

-Translation of 48 novels (8 had important prizes in their original countries) for the following publishing houses: Emecé, Javier Vergara and Sudamericana from Buenos Aires and Grupo B from Spain. Some authors translated: Barry Unsworth, Norman Rush, Lois McMasters Bujold, Barbara Kingsolver, Ursula K. LeGuin, Louise M. Alcott, Elizabeth McCracken, Siri Hustvedt. Pigs in Heaven was published as Puercos en el cielo by Harper and Row.

-Translation Supervisor for Emecé.

-Translation of manuals and books on electronics, systems, and also History, Literature and Feminism for companies and study centers.

-Responsible for the Translation Area in Feminaria, a feminist theory journal in Buenos Aires.

Magazines:

-Member of the Editing Committee of De Sur a Norte, Perspectivas Latinoamericanas de los EEUU, an American Studies magazine in Buenos Aires.

-Member of the Editing Committee of Taller, Revista de Política, Cultura y Sociedad.

-Member of the Editing Committee of Contexto, Revista do Departamento de Linguas e Letras Mestrado em Letras: Literatura Brasileira. A magazine from the University of Vitoria, Brazil.

Teaching:

-Professor of Literary Translation II. Instituto Superior en Lenguas Vivas "Juan Ramón Fernández".

-Assistant Professor of American Literature. Letras. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Buenos Aires.

-Professor of American Literature. Universidad de Palermo. Buenos Aires.

-Professor of American Literature. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Provincia de Buenos Aires.

-Seminars on Ethnic Literature in: Universidad de Buenos Aires, Universidad de Lomas de Zamora, Instituto Nacional Lenguas Vivas, Instituto J. F. Kennedy, Universidad Nacional de Santa Rosa, La Pampa.

-Lectures on American Literature and Translation in: Biblioteca Lincoln, Instituto Nacional Lenguas Vivas, Congreso II de Traductores en Facultad de Derecho, UBA, Carrera de Inglés en la Universidad Nacional de Rosario y Universidad de Mar del Plata.

Literary Critic:

-Reviews and articles in: cultural sections of Clarín, Buenos Aires and El País, Montevideo.

Publications

Literature:

-Bajar del tren, short story. In Revista Aguafuerte, número 1, 1992.

-Jirafa azul, rinoceronte verde, short story published as a chilren´s book by Madres de Plaza de Mayo, First Prize of Concurso Cuento Infantil, 1992.

-Cuentos de arriba y de abajo, short stories, published by Alfaguara Santillana, september, 1993.

-"Acostar al árbol", short story included in La gallina degollada, anthology of Ediciones Del Dock, Buenos Aires, 1994.

-Panadero en la ciudad, short stories for children. Published by Sudamericana, Pan Flauta, noviembre, 1995.

-Solo y su sombra, published in 1998, by Sudamericana, Pan Flauta.

-Dos magias y un dinosaurio, published in 1998 by Alfaguara, Santillana.

-Los exploradores, published by Sudamericana, 2000.

-Lo que cuentan los iroqueses, will be published by Sudamericana in 2001.

-“La toalla despierta” was included in the Antología del E.G.B. 4 año, Santillana.

-“Detrás de las lluvias” was included in the anthology Te cuento tus derechos by Amnesty International, Argentina, in 1997. The short story was selected in a Contest held in 1995.

-4 short stories published in La Nación de los chicos, revista infantil.

Academic articles

-40 articles published in national and foreign academic magazines and academic books: 29 in national publications, 11 in foreign publications. 17 reviews published in national and foreign publications. (For instance, National: Taller, De Sur a Norte, Interliteras; Foreign: Debate Feminista (México), Borderlines (England), Contexto (Brazil), Transit Circle (Brazil), American Indian Quarterly, The Journal of American History, Femspec (USA).)

Prizes and Distinctions

-Honor Diploma in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, University of Buenos Aires.

-Second Prize in: Concurso de Poesía de la Dirección de Cultura de la Universidad de Buenos Aires. La mentira y el tiempo. 1978.

-Second Prize in: Concurso de Ensayo sobre Saul Bellow, by Instituto de Intercambio Cultural y Científico entre Israel y Argentina. 1987.

-First Prize in Concurso de Cuento Infantil de la Asociación de Madres de Plaza de Mayo, abril, 1992. Jirafa azul, rinoceronte verde.

- Detrás de las lluvias, a short story for children, was one of the 10 stories selected by the Concurso Te cuento tus derechos, to be published by Amnesty International in the program Educando para la Libertad, 1995.

- Panadero en la ciudad, was one of the10 books selected for the Cuadro de honor 1995 de literatura infantil, in the city of Tucumán, Argentina.

-Included in Who is Who in America? Since the 2000 edition.

Dra. Márgara Averbach.