Genre: The Novel

This course focuses on contemporary novels written by Indigenous authors of New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific Islands, the United States, and Canada with an emphasis on how Indigenous aesthetics, epistemologies, and histories influence the novel form. Each of the texts in this course draws upon Indigenous literary canons, languages, and practices, while addressing problems related to colonization, such as ecological destruction, militarization, displacement, and genocide. Drawing on Chadwick Allen’s “trans-Indigenous” methodology of juxtaposition, students will be encouraged to read across material, literary, sonic, and visual arts texts in their analyses.