AML3311-0002 – Spring 2027 – Robertson

This course examines selected works of major American writers, and we will be specifically looking at the textual evolution from Native American oral tradition to the literary powerhouses constituting the genre of the "Indigenous Gothic." The course's foundation lies in the understanding of Indigenous folklore, where we will read the mythology of major Native Tribes, including tales from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Cherokee Nation, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and more. In addition to folklore, the “Indigenous Gothic” requires us to explore pinnacle texts of early American Romanticism, British Colonialism, and Modernism, thus emphasizing the popular treatment of Native American portrayals through authors such as Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, Lydia Marie Child, Robert Montgomery Bird, and Toni Morrison. Prominent Native American authors of interest also include Louise Erdrich, Tommy Orange, and Stephen Graham Jones. We seek to understand the ever-evolving notions of the "American Gothic" as it relates to the country's nuanced, horrific, and tragic relationship with Native national identity, American Indian removal, and inter-generational trauma.
This course fulfills State-Mandated Writing credit (W) credit.