Fall 2019 - ENGL 870 G900

Topics in Language and Literature (4)

Class Number: 4815

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2019: Wed, 5:30–8:20 p.m.
    Vancouver

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Specific topics will vary from offering to offering.

COURSE DETAILS:

VISUAL SOVEREIGNTY IN INDIGENOUS FILM AND ADAPTATIONS


The course will focus on tracing visual sovereignty in contemporary Indigenous film (documentary and dramatic), film adaptations, and the literary works that have inspired them. Beginning with a retrospective of the fifty-year-plus career of Abenaki filmmaker, Alanis Obomsawin, recognized as one of the most innovative and influential documentary filmmakers, we will explore techniques of point of view, montage, positionality, and the importance of social justice in a range of documentary and dramatic films, including the “documentary musical,” The Road Forward (2017), by Marie Clements (Metis Dene), about the struggle for Indigenous rights through writing, self-determination, and the struggle for constitutional recognition. The course will include a special public screening of the award-winning documentary film, nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up, by Tasha Hubbard (Cree), on Coulten Boushie’s murder and his family's fight for justice, with special guests in attendance for Q&A and discussion. We will also consider film/media adaptations of literary works (Wagamese’s Indian Horse, Van Camp’s Lesser Blessed, Ihimaera’s Whale Rider, Tagaq’s Split Tooth) in order to investigate several key issues in Indigenous literary and film studies (visual sovereignty, resurgence, land, the city, gender, sexuality, interdisciplinary and intermedia storytelling). We will read Indigenous adaptation theory, particularly how Indigenous artists and writers use a variety of genres, formats, materials, and disciplines, to tell their stories. A strong through-line in the course is how Indigenous writers and filmmakers have exposed genocide at residential schools from the 1960s to the present day, and how they have navigated the complex ethical, aesthetic, and representational concerns relating to this history. We will read the multi-disciplinary works by Vera Manuel, Ktunaxa-Secwepemc writer and residential school survivor, and have the opportunity to ask questions and learn from the co-editors (four Indigenous women writers and scholars who are experts in Indigenous editing practices) of her selected works, Honouring the Strength of Indian Women: Plays, Stories, Poetry (2019). We will also view the film, The Making of the Witness Blanket (2018), on Carey Newman’s extraordinary 12-foot installation, The Witness Blanket, made with recovered material from residential schools across Canada.

Grading

  • Seminar presentation (please sign up) 20%
  • Position paper - first draft Oct 9, second draft Nov 6 30%
  • Participation: (peer review, short written responses, discussion) 10%
  • Final paper (4000 words) Wed Dec 18 40%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

REQUIRED TEXT(S)/READINGS

  • Witi Ihimaera, The Whale Rider (HMH for young readers) 978-0152050160
  • Richard Van Camp, The Lesser Blessed (Douglas & McIntyre) 978-1771621137
  • Richard Wagamese, Indian Horse (Douglas & McIntyre) 978-1771621908
  • Tanya Tagaq, Split Tooth (Viking) 978-0670070091. Please also listen to the audio book, read by the author, with throat singing.
  • Vera Manuel, Honouring the Strength of Indian Women: Plays, Stories, Poetry. Ed. Michelle Coupal, Deanna Reder, Joanne Arnott, Emalene A Manuel (Wilfrid Laurier UP 2019) 978-0-88755-836-8  
Films:
  • Barnaby, Jeff. Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013)
  • Campanelli, Stephen S. Indian Horse (2017)
  • Caro, Niki. Whale Rider (2002)
  • Clements, Marie. Red Snow (2019)
  • ---. The Road Forward (NFB 2017)
  • Doron, Anita. The Lesser Blessed (2012)
  • Hubbard, Tasha (Cree). nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up. NFB, 2019.
  • Kunuk, Zacharias (Inuit). Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner. Igloolik Isuma, 2000.
  • National Film Board / APTN
https://www.nfb.ca/film/powwow_at_duck_lake/ : 14 min pair with Road Forward and/or Indian Horse
https://www.nfb.ca/film/this_river/ Erika Macpherson and Katherena Vermette (Métis) (2016): 19.30min pair with poems from North End Love Songs https://www.nfb.ca/film/vistas_dancers_of_the_grass/ Melanie Jackson (Métis/Saulteaux) (2009) : 2.18min 
https://www.nfb.ca/directors/kent-monkman/ Kent Monkman (Cree) 2015: 3 min. 
https://www.nfb.ca/film/naked_island_hipster_headdress/ Amanda Strong (Métis) 2017: 42 sec. 
https://www.nfb.ca/film/three-thousand/?hp_en=feature_1 Asinnajaq (Inuit) 2019: 14 min. 
http://aptn.ca/mohawkgirls/videos/season-1/ Tracey Deer (Mohawk) 2010-2017
  • Obomsawin, Alanis. Please see NFB archive: https://www.nfb.ca/directors/alanis-obomsawin/
  • Tailfeathers, Elle Majia. c̓əsnaʔəm, the city before the city (2017)  

RECOMMENDED READING:

Recommended:

  • Louise Halfe, Burning in this Midnight Dream (Coteau) 978-1550506655
  • Louise Halfe, Blue Marrow (Coteau) 978-1550503043
  • Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson, Picking up the Pieces: Residential School Memories and the making of the Witness Blanket (Orca) 9781459819955. To be released in Sept 2019

Graduate Studies Notes:

Important dates and deadlines for graduate students are found here: http://www.sfu.ca/dean-gradstudies/current/important_dates/guidelines.html. The deadline to drop a course with a 100% refund is the end of week 2. The deadline to drop with no notation on your transcript is the end of week 3.

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS