Depictions of human interactions with other beings can be a window to another world or worldview—and also a potential mirror—especially designed to help readers see the world and ourselves in a new way. Popular values and genre expectations help most readers identify with the protagonist and vilify the antagonist, yet when contemporary American Indian writers re-imagine the vampire or post-apocalyptic landscapes, villains are almost universally formed though colonialist beliefs, practices, or influences. That is, in American Indian fiction, monstrosity emerges from social and environmental transgressions against Indigenous values and relationships.

In reading for this course, we’ll examine depictions of villains, dystopias, monstrous technologies, the undead and otherwise voracious beings; the relationships that “evil” attempts to disrupt; and the means by which protagonists fight their demons.  Through short stories, novels, and a film or two, this course will examine how American Indian authors continue a long-established practice of social and environmental intervention through storytelling and story-writing.

Some of the works under consideration for this class:

“Distances” and “The Sin Eaters,” both short stories by Sherman Alexie

The Dreams of Jesse Brown by Joseph Bruchac

Eye Killers by A.A. Carr

Tracks by Louise Erdrich

Columbus and Other Cannibals: The Wetiko Disease of Exploitation, Imperialism, and Terrorism (excerpts) by Jack Forbes

Mending Skins by Eric Gansworth

Solar Storms by Linda Hogan

Shell Shaker by LeAnne Howe

Demon Theory by Stephen Graham Jones

Kynship by Daniel Heath Justice

Tambien la lluvia, a film written by Paul Laverty and directed by Icíar Bollain

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The Night Wanderer by Drew Hayden Taylor