Signs of place in Native American literature: affinity of indigenous space and text

doi:10.26565/2521-6481-2017-2-1

Svitlana Kot

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26565/2521-6481-2017-2-1

Keywords: Anishinaabe literature, indigenous epistemology, Native American literature, identity, space

Abstract

In this paper, the discussion centers on Native American Literature and the way it is connected with space. The issues to discuss are how space is represented there and why Native American writers attach considerable importance to landscape and space. Evidence suggests such importance is a result of the influence of markedly different indigenous epistemological and ontological paradigms, which traditionally consider land and space in general as a fundamental and spiritual basis of Native American identity. This research examines the emerging role of space in the context of Native American literature. Ecocritical, postcolonial and semiotic approaches were adopted to provide the in-depth analysis of all the factors which contribute to Native American understanding of space. At first, this study reviews the evidence for genetic ties between Native space and literature; secondly, it investigates the factors that determine the significance of spatial elements in Native American literature. Thirdly, it examines the different ways in which spatiality functions in texts written by Native American authors.

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