Speak to Me Words

by Rader, Dean; Gould, Janice

• ISBN13: 9780816523498
• ISBN10: 0816523495
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Arizona Pr

Summary

Although American Indian poetry is widely read and discussed,few resources have been available that focus on it critically. This book is the first collection of essays on the genre, bringing poetry out from under the shadow of fiction in the study of Native American literature. Speak to Me Wordsis a stimulating blend of classic articles and original pieces that reflect the energy of modern American Indian literary studies. Highlighting various aspects of poetry written by American Indians since the 1960s, it is a wide-ranging collection that balances the insights of Natives and non-Natives, men and women, old and new voices. Included here are such landmark articles as "Answering the Deer" by Paula Gunn Allen, "Herbs of Healing" by Carter Revard, and "Song, Poetry and Language--Expression and Perception" by Simon Ortiz--all pieces that have shaped how we think about Native poetry. Among the contributions appearing for the first time are Elaine Jahner writing on Paula Gunn Allen's use of formal structures; Robert Nelson addressing pan-Indian tropes of emergence, survival, return, and renewal; and Janet McAdams focusing on Carter Revard's "angled mirrors." Although many Native writers may disregard distinctions between genres, together these writings help readers see the difference between American Indian poetry and other forms of Native literature. These essays are as broad, encompassing, and provocative as Native poetry itself, branching off from and weaving back into one another. In showing how American Indian poetry redefines our social order and articulates how Indian communities think about themselves, these writers establish a new foundation for the study--and enjoyment--of this vital art.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction: Generations and Emanations
Dean Rader and Janice Gould	3	(18)
Poems as Maps in American Indian Women's Writing
Janice Gould	21	(13)
Situating American Indian Poetry: Place, Community, and the Question of Genre
Eric Gary Anderson	34	(22)
Daydreaming Primal Space: Cherokee Aesthetics as Habits of Being
Marilou Awiakta	56	(15)
Beloved Woman Returns: The Doubleweaving of Homeland and Identity in the Poetry of Marilou Awiakta
Daniel Heath Justice	71	(11)
The Power and Presence of Native Oral Storytelling Traditions in the Poetry of Marilou Awiakta, Kimberly Blaeser, and Marilyn Dumont
Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez	82	(21)
Ain't Seen You Since: Dissent among Female Relatives in American Indian Women's Poetry
Patricia Clark Smith	103	(20)
The Epic Lyric: Genre and Contemporary American Indian Poetry
Dean Rader	123	(20)
Answering the Deer: Genocide and Continuance in the Poetry of American Indian Women
Paula Gunn Allen	143	(10)
The Style of the Times in Paula Gunn Allen's Poetry
Elaine A. Jahner	153	(19)
Herbs of Healing: American Values in American Indian Literature
Carter Revard	172	(21)
Carter Revard's Angled Mirrors
Janet McAdams	193	(14)
"Dawn / Is a Good Word": Naming an Emergent Motif of Contemporary Native American Poetry
Robert M. Nelson	207	(15)
Call Me Brother: Two-Spiritness, the Erotic, and Mixedblood Identity as Sites of Sovereignty and Resistance in Gregory Scofield's Poetry
Qwo-Li Driskill	222	(13)
Song/Poetry and Language-Expression and Perception
Simon J. Ortiz	235	(12)
Notes	247	(22)
Suggestions for Further Reading	269	(12)
Source Acknowledgments	281	(2)
Contributors	283	(4)
Index	287