124220 SE Cultural and Media Studies Seminar (2023W)

Indigenous North America in Popular Culture

11.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik

Prüfungsimmanente Lehrveranstaltung

Moodle

An/Abmeldung

Hinweis: Ihr Anmeldezeitpunkt innerhalb der Frist hat keine Auswirkungen auf die Platzvergabe (kein "first come, first served").

Anmeldung von Mo 11.09.2023 00:00 bis Mo 25.09.2023 12:00
Abmeldung bis Di 31.10.2023 23:59

Details

max. 20 Teilnehmer*innen

Sprache: Englisch

Lehrende

Maria Katharina Wiedlack

Termine (iCal) - nächster Termin ist mit N markiert

On Friday 17.11.2023 the class will not be on site. Instead students will have to complete some asynchronous tasks.

AI tools may not be used in this course for completing the any of the required writing tasks. Their reproduction of biases and suggested connection to "data colonialism" (Couldry and Mejias) renders them inappropriate for a usage in the context of Indigenous Popular Culture and beyond. These aspects may change in the future. But for no, I think we should be cautious what ideas and data we "feed" to AI.

    
    Freitag
    13.10.
    12:15 - 13:45
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
    
    Freitag
    20.10.
    12:15 - 13:45
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
    
    Freitag
    27.10.
    12:15 - 13:45
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
    
    Freitag
    03.11.
    12:15 - 13:45
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
    
    Freitag
    10.11.
    12:15 - 13:45
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
    
    Freitag
    17.11.
    12:15 - 13:45
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
    
    Freitag
    24.11.
    12:15 - 13:45
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
    
    Freitag
    01.12.
    12:15 - 13:45
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
    
    Freitag
    15.12.
    12:15 - 13:45
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
    
    Freitag
    12.01.
    12:15 - 13:45
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
    
    Freitag
    19.01.
    12:15 - 13:45
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
    
    Freitag
    26.01.
    12:15 - 13:45
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17

Information

Ziele, Inhalte und Methode der Lehrveranstaltung

North American popular culture has been representing Indigenous people for the longest time through variations of two colonial stereotypes: ‘the noble savage,’ a saint like and often victimized figure, living in harmony with nature, and the ‘uncivilized dangerous Indian,’ who is out to brutalize and kill any white settler. Although the depictions of Indigenous Americans and their relationship with white settler colonists changed over time, these stereotypes are still at the core of too many North American popular culture productions. Moreover, these discriminating imaginations became globalized and circulate all over the world, not the least in the Austrian context of “Winnetou Festspiele” for example.

Native American, Alaska Native, and First Nation people have been fighting the stereotyping of their culture for centuries. Technological advances through streaming platforms and social media have supported many recent cultural interventions in all forms of media, from literature and poetry to music, social media and cinematic (and TV) productions.

In this course we will revisit some of the most prevailing stereotypical representations of Indigenous North American culture that are still relevant today. We will, for example look at the myth of the ‘Indian princess,’ and how it is continuously perpetuated by Disney’s Pocahontas franchise as well as through adaptations of the Peter Pan story. Importantly, we will discuss how contemporary cultural actors intervene into the proliferation of Indigenous stereotypes and distorted or untrue depictions of history.

Moreover, we will read contemporary Indigenous literature that speaks to the past and present of Indigenous North Americans. Through collective readings, discussions, and presentations, we will further look into current TV- and film productions, graphic novels, music performances and videos, and art. Although we cannot get an exhaustive overview of the many facets and the diversity of Native American, Alaska Native and First Nation experiences, identities and lives, the course will span a wide array of different representations and locations.

Importantly, we will develop tools and methods to analyze and deconstruct representations of Indigenous cultures through Cultural Studies and Critical Whiteness concepts. We will further apply an intersectional perspective, to focus on how stereotypes in popular culture are interwoven with and confirm racial, sexual, gendered and ableist stereotypes, ideologies, and hierarchies. At the same time, we will analyze how popular culture, when created from an Indigenous intersectional positionality, can critically questions stereotypes and oppression, potentially offering venues for critique and resistance to white cultural hegemony.

BA students will be assisted in developing relevant research questions for theses that use basic methodology and theoretical background. MA students are expected to rely on their more advanced knowledge of texts, theories and methodologies to develop a more independent and more critical research project, also as a way of further developing skills and competences for their Master theses.

Art der Leistungskontrolle und erlaubte Hilfsmittel

All students must present in class and participate in the class discussions and in group work. Everyone is welcome to use PPP to support their presentations, use Moodle apps, show video and audio examples, and bring printed materials.

Mindestanforderungen und Beurteilungsmaßstab

Class participation, and minor tasks throughout the semester (25%)
proposal and annotated bibliography, and presentations (25%)
BA thesis, small research paper or longer seminar paper (50%)
You need to complete all requirements to complete the course.
The overall grading scheme is (1): 100-91%, (2): 90-81%, (3): 80-71%, (4): 70-61%, (5): 60-0%

Prüfungsstoff

Regular attendance (max. 2 absences); class participation, a presentation of a theoretical concept (based on the class readings), a group presentation and minor tasks throughout the semester; a research proposal for the term paper, incl. annotated bibliography; BA students will either write a short seminar paper or a BA thesis; MA students will write a longer seminar paper.

Literatur

Academic Literatur

Andracki, T. Un-settling Gender and Sexuality: Indigenous LGBTQ / Two-Spirit Literature for Young People. In B. Epstein & E. Chapman (Eds.), International LGBTQ Literature for Children and Young Adults, Anthem Press (2021), pp. 117-128.

Bird, S. Elizabeth. “Gendered Construction of the American Indian in Popular Media.” Journal of Communication 49.3 (1999): 61–83.

Blumlo, Dan. “Pocahontas, Uleleh, and Hononegah: The Archetype of the American Indian Princess.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 110. 2 (2017): 129-153.

Hall, Stuart: Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Sage Publications & Open University, 1997 (Chapter 1, pp. 15-64 and Chapter 4, pp. 223-274)

Hill Collins, Patricia: “Intersectionality’s Definitional Dilemmas,” Annual Review of Sociology, no. 41 (2015), pp. 1-20.

LaPointe, Sasha taqʷšəblu: “As An Indigenous Woman, I Always Hate Thanksgiving. This Year I'm Terrified Of It.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/thanksgiving-coronavirus-health-indigenous-peoples_n_5fbd44bbc5b6e4b1ea464350

Paul, Heike: The Myths That Made America: An Introduction to American Studies. The Myths That Made America: An Introduction to American Studies, 2014. https://doi.org/10.26530/oapen_627790.

Savage, Jordan: “‘There Was a Veil upon You, Pocahontas’: The Pocahontas Story as a Myth of American Heterogeneity in the Liberal Western.” Papers on Language & Literature 54, no. 1 (2018): 7–24.

Schweninger, Lee. ““This Place Killed Him”: Reservation Dogs Flirts with Naturalism.” Studies in American Naturalism, vol. 17, no. 1, 2022, pp. 69–84, https://doi.org/10.1353/san.2022.0012.

Madsen, Deborah L. The Routledge Companion to Native American Literature. Routledge, 2016.

Clark, Natalie. “Red Intersectionality and Violence-Informed Witnessing Praxis with Indigenous Girls.” Girlhood Studies 9, no. 2 (January 1, 2016). https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2016.090205.

Raheja, Michelle H. Reservation Reelism: Redfacing, Visual Sovereignty, and Representations of Native Americans in Film. Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press, 2010.

Seibel, Svetlana. Chapter “1.3 “The Medium is the Message”: “Digital Natives” and Community Building,“ in ‘Personal Totems:’ The Poetics of the Popular in Contemporary Indigenous Popular Culture in North America. Universität des Saarlandes, 2018, pp. 58-68.

Novels:

DaLuke, Winona: Last Standing Woman. Winnipeg, Manitoba: HighWater Press 1997.

Vowel, Chelsea: Buffalo Is the New Buffalo. Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp Press 2022. (available in u:search).

Hayes, Ernestine. Blonde Indian: An Alaska Native Memoir. University of Arizona Press. 2006.

Orange, Tommy: There There. New York: Vintage Books 2019.

Belcourt, Billy-Ray. A History of My Brief Body. Two Dollar Radio, 2020.

Weblinks:

“Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW),” Native Hope, Webpage, https://www.nativehope.org/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-mmiw.

“The Seeding Sovereignty Project,” The Seeding Sovereignty, Webpage, https://seedingsovereignty.org/.

Film & TV Shows

Musker, John and Ron Clements. Moana. Disney 2016.
Gabriel, Mike and Eric Goldberg. Pocahontas. Disney 1995.
Luske, Hamilton, Clyde Geronimi and Wilfred Jackson. Peter Pan. Disney 1953.

McCarthy, Tom. Alaska Daily. Hulu 2022.
Roland, Graham. Dark Winds. AMC 2022-2023.
Harjo, Sterlin and Taika Waititi. Reservation Dogs. FX Productions 2021-2023.
Gillim, Dorothea and Kathy Waugh. Molly of Denali. PBS Kids and CBC Kids 2019-2022.

Graphic Novel

Yahgulanaas, Michael Nicoll: Red: A Haida Manga. Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre 2009. (available in u:search)

Instagram and TikTok

Michelle Chubb and Shina Novalinga “Land Back Please”
Quannah Rose Chasinghorse
Nicolas Galanin
Supaman aka Billy ills

Zuordnung im Vorlesungsverzeichnis

Studium: BA 612, MA 844(2);
Code/Modul: BA 09.2; MA 844(2) 4.1, 4.2;
Lehrinhalt: 12-0405

Letzte Änderung: Fr 13.10.2023 07:47