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  3. Ecological linguistics and fraught historicity in Black Elk Speaks : a thesis in environmental humanities
Title

Ecological linguistics and fraught historicity in Black Elk Speaks : a thesis in environmental humanities

    Item Description
    Limited Access
    The author(s) chose to restrict access to this thesis to current Whitman students, faculty, and staff. Please log in to view it.
    Linked Agent
    Creator (cre): Dee, Gardner W.
    Advisor (adv): Thayne, Stan
    Advisor (adv): Snow, Donald
    Department (dpt): Whitman College. Environmental Humanities
    Date
    May 9, 2018
    Graduation Year
    2018
    Abstract

    This thesis explores the fraught history and contested status of the book Black Elk Speaks, produced from a series of interviews between the Nebraskan poet John G. Neihardt and the Oglala Lakota holy man Nicholas Black Elk, in the spring and summer of 1931. After providing historical background on the settler-colonial violence endured by the Lakota Sioux people from 1860-1890, I apply the linguistic theory of Canadian poet and translator Robert Bringhurst to the content of Black Elk Speaks. Bringhurst posits a radical theory of poetics and argues for a wider conception of what constitutes literature that includes more Native American narratives. I also set Black Elk Speaks against a backdrop of complex intellectual debates regarding the authenticity of Native texts and the ramifications of cultural appropriation for creative license. I examine how Black Elk Speaks can be read productively despite the problematic conditions of its production and argue that the book should rightfully be included in the canon of great Native American literature.

    Subject
    Elk, Black, 1863-1950 -- Black Elk Speaks
    Neihardt, John G., 1881-1973
    Bringhurst, Robert
    Lakota Indians -- 19th century
    Poetics
    Indians of North America -- Personal narratives
    Cultural appropriation
    Authorship -- Collaboration
    Translations -- Moral and ethical aspects
    Environmental sciences
    Humanities
    Academic theses
    Whitman College 2018 -- Dissertation collection -- Environmental Humanities
    Geographic Subject
    United States
    Genre
    Theses
    Extent
    66 pages
    Permanent URL
    http://works.whitman.edu/436
    Rights
    http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
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