Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"The
Companion offers a cogent and fresh context for previously published key scholarly and nonscholarly perspectives on the novel, as well as significant new contributions."—Lydia R. Cooper,
American Indian Quarterly“As the final novel of one of the most significant writers of the twentieth century,
The Heartsong of Charging Elk is immensely important. This valuable collection honors that legacy. By turns thought provoking, funny, and provocative, the essays in [this book] comprise a noteworthy contribution to Native American studies scholarship.”—Lisa Tatonetti, author of
The Queerness of Native American Literature “Some of today’s most prominent scholars in Native American literature have contributed to this first-of-its-kind volume on James Welch’s last novel. Such a collection is essential to exploring the tremendous impact of Welch’s work within American literature as a whole.”—Lionel Larré, editor of
John Milton Oskison’s Tales of the Old Indian Territory and associate professor of English at the Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Introduction
Hearing, Reading, and Remembering James Welch (1940–2003)
Kathryn W. Shanley Interview
Owen Perkins Interview
Cindy Heidemann Interview
From James Welch’s The Marseille Grace
On Researching Marseille Grace/Heartsong, 1994–96
Lois M. Welch
Welch Relations: Uncovering the History, Recovering the Story
John Purdy
Reprinted Essays
“A World Away from His People”: James Welch’s The Heartsong of Charging Elk and the Indian Historical Novel
James J. Donahue
Ghost Dance Literature: Spectrality in Heartsong
Ulla Haselstein
Tribal or Transnational? Memory, History, and Identity in Heartsong
Hans Bak
Original Essays
The Unexpected Indian in Heartsong
Amanda Cobb-Greetham
“Looking for the Way Back”: Displacement, Diaspora, and Desire in Heartsong
Kathryn W. Shanley
Issues of Identity
Arnold Krupat
The Fatal Blow Job
Craig Womack
History, Language, and Culture in Heartsong
Arnold Krupat
Native Presence and Survivance in Heartsong
James Ruppert
Contributors
