Books Mentioned in This Chapter
On the Shelf at CCBC Libraries
Ceremony by
The great Native American Novel of a battered veteran returning home to heal his mind and spirit More than thirty-five years since its original publication, Ceremony remains one of the most profound and moving works of Native American literature, a novel that is itself a ceremony of healing. Tayo, a World War II veteran of mixed ancestry, returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation. He is deeply scarred by his experience as a prisoner of the Japanese and further wounded by the rejection he encounters from his people. Only by immersing himself in the Indian past can he begin to regain the peace that was taken from him. Masterfully written, filled with the somber majesty of Pueblo myth, Ceremony is a work of enduring power. The Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition contains a new preface by the author and an introduction by Larry McMurtry. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Call Number: PS3569.I44 C4 2006
Databases
- ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
Articles on any subject. This is a good place to start.
- Gale Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Articles and essays on literary criticism, and biographies of authors from many countries.
Native American Literature
On the Shelf at CCBC Libraries
Native American Literature by
North American Indigenous literature began over thirty thousand years ago when Indigenous people began telling stories of emergence and creation, journey and quest, and heroism and trickery. By setting Indigenous literature in historical moments, Sean Teuton skillfully traces its evolutionfrom the ancient role of bringing rain and healing the body, to its later purpose in resisting European invasion and colonization, into its current place as a world literature that confronts dominance while celebrating the imagination and resilience of Indigenous lives.By the time Europeans arrived in North America Indigenous people already understood the power of written language and the need to transmit philosophy, history, and literature across generations and peoples. Seeking out multiple literary forms such as sermon, poetry, and novel to serve differingworldviews Indigenous authors have shaped their writing into North American Indigenous literature as we recognize it today. In this lucid narrative, Sean Teuton leads readers into Indigenous worlds. He describes the invention of a written Indigenous language, the first Indigenous language newspaper,and the literary occupation of Alcatraz Island. Along the way readers encounter the diversity of Indigenous peoples who, owing to their differing lands, livelihoods, and customs, molded literature to a nation's specific needs. As Teuton shows, Indigenous literature is one of the best places forunderstanding Indigenous views about land and society and the role of humanity in the cosmos. In turning to celebrated contemporary authors such as Thomas King, Leslie Silko, Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich, and James Welch, Teuton demonstrates that, like Indigenous people, Indigenous literaturecontinues to survive because it adapts, both honoring the past and reaching for the future.ABOUT THE SERIES:The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to makeinteresting and challenging topics highly readable.
Call Number: PS153.I52 T465 2018
Online from CCBC Libraries
Reading Native American Literature by
Native American literature explores divides between public and private cultures, ethnicities and experience. In this volume, Joseph Coulombe argues that Native American writers use diverse narrative strategies to engage with readers and are ¿writing for connection¿ with both Native and non-Native audiences. Beginning with a historical overview of Native American literature, this book presents focused readings of key texts including: ¿ N. Scott Momaday¿s House Made of Dawn ¿ Leslie Marmon Silko¿s Ceremony ¿ Gerald Vizenor¿s Bearheart ¿ James Welch¿s Fool¿s Crow ¿ Sherman Alexie¿s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven ¿ Linda Hogan¿s Power. Suggesting new ways towards a sensitive engagement with tribal cultures, this book provides not only a comprehensive introduction to Native American literature but also a critical framework through which it may be read.
The Cambridge Companion to Native American Literature by
Invisible, marginal, expected - these words trace the path of recognition for American Indian literature written in English since the late eighteenth century. This Companion chronicles and celebrates that trajectory by defining relevant institutional, historical, cultural, and gender contexts, by outlining the variety of genres written since the 1770s, and also by focusing on significant authors who established a place for Native literature in literary canons in the 1970s (Momaday, Silko, Welch, Ortiz, Vizenor), achieved international recognition in the 1980s (Erdrich), and performance-celebrity status in the 1990s (Harjo and Alexie). In addition to the seventeen chapters written by respected experts - Native and non-Native; American, British and European scholars - the Companion includes bio-bibliographies of forty authors, maps, suggestions for further reading, and a timeline which details major works of Native American literature and mainstream American literature, as well as significant social, cultural and historical events. An essential overview of this powerful literature.
Call Number: PS153.I52 C36 2007
Creation Stories
On the Shelf at CCBC Libraries
Creation Stories by
An accessible exploration of how diverse cultures have explained humanity's origins through narratives about the natural environment Drawing from a vast array of creation myths--Babylonian, Greek, Aztec, Maya, Inca, Chinese, Hindu, Navajo, Polynesian, African, Norse, Inuit, and more--this concise illustrated book uncovers both the similarities and differences in our attempts to explain the universe. Anthony Aveni, an award-winning author and professor of astronomy and anthropology, examines the ways various cultures around the world have attempted to explain our origins, and what roles the natural environment plays in shaping these narratives. The book also celebrates the audacity of the human imagination. Whether the first humans emerged from a cave, as in the Inca myths, or from bamboo stems, as the Bantu people of Africa believed, or whether the universe is simply the result of Vishnu's cyclical inhales and exhales, each of these fascinating stories reflects a deeper understanding of the culture it arose from as well as its place in the larger human narrative.
Call Number: BL325.C7 A94 2021
The Woman Who Fell from the Sky by
The author draws on her Native American heritage to offer poems combining elements of storytelling, prayer, and song.
Call Number: PS3558 .A62423 W6 1994B
Online From CCBC Libraries
Maya Creation Myths by
There is no Classical Yucatecan Maya word for "myth." But around the close of the seventeenth century, an anonymous Maya scribe penned what he called "u kahlay cab tu kinil," "the world history of the era," before Christianity came to the Peten. He collected numerous accounts of the cyclical destruction and reestablishment of the cosmos; the origins of gods, human beings, and the rituals and activities upon which their relationship depends; and finally the dawn of the sun and the sacred calendar Maya diviners still use today to make sense of humanity's place in the otherwise inscrutable march of time. These creation myths eventually became part of the documents known today as the Books of Chilam Balam. "Maya Creation Myths" provides not only new and outstanding translations of these myths but also an interpretive journey through these often misunderstood texts, providing insight into Maya cosmology and how Maya intellectuals met the challenge of the European clergy's attempts to eradicate their worldviews. Unlike many scholars who focus primarily on traces of pre-Hispanic culture or Christian influence within the Books of Chilam Balam, Knowlton emphasizes the diversity of Maya mythic traditions and the uniquely Maya discursive strategies that emerged in the Colonial period. This book will be of significant interest to Maya scholars, folklorists, and historians, as well as students and scholars of religion, cosmology, and anthropology."
Publication Date: 2010
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