Research in Western American Literature: 1994–95

Abstract

J A N R O U S H Utah State University Research in Western American Literature: 1994-95 This year’s research in western American literature follows closely the trends noted in last year’s assessment, reflecting both an increased awareness o f the environm ent as well as a recognition of the culturally diverse groups who inhabit that environm ent, both past and present. This year, however, the m ajor emphasis is on Native Americans, for out o f the sixteen m asters’ theses and sixty-four dissertations that comprise the studies of western American literature, thirty focus in some way on the pervasive im pact that Native Americans have had on the land. The range of such studies is immense: some, such as “R obert Henri: Portrait of the American Indian” or “Native Americans in Paintings and Sculp­ tures in the U nited States Galleries of the Fine Arts Palace at the 1893 W orld’s Columbian Exposition” relate the perceived images of Native Americans by the white culture. Others, such as “Creation of an Identity: American Indian Protest A rt” and “T urde and Lizard Images in Lakota Art: A Case Study in Interpretation” in art or ‘Tricky Tribal Discourse: T he Poetry, Short Stories, and Fables of Creek W riter, Alex Posey” and “Inseparable and Distinct: An U nderstanding of Navajo N adleehi in a Traditional Navajo Worldview” in literature attem pt to portray a Native American corrective for such images by rendering a m ore accurate portrait. Individual voices who speak out for this Native American worldview, in addition to Alex Posey, include Louise Erdrich, Leslie M armon Silko, and Gerald Vizenor. Following Native American literature or art, the m ajor em phasis in the research is on a sense of place—them es of nature, wilderness, or the environm ent; eighteen different theses and dissertations focus on these concerns, represented by “Place and Landscape in Midwestern Ameri­ can Literature” or ‘T h e Ethics of Identity: Constructions of Self and 410 Western American Literature Other in the Nineteenth-Century American Landscape.” Closely en­ twined or overlapping with these are such studies as “Cartographies of Undomesticated Ground: Nature and Feminism in American Women’s Fiction and Theory” and “Toward a Postmodern Pastoral: Contempo­ rary Women Writers’ Revisions of the Natural World”with its treatment of authors Gretel Ehrlich, Leslie Marmon Silko, Joy Harjo, and Annie Dillard, that fuse women’s political and “gender” awareness with their awareness of nature. Twelve separate studies are about women’s impact on western American literature, with another fifteen focusing on four individual writers: Erdrich (4), Cather (4), Austin (4), and Silko (3). Twain, with six treatments, is the only other individual author to receive sustained attention, although there is increased interest in Rudolfo Anaya with two dissertations focusing solely on his works and others commenting on his significance as a part of the overall Chicana/o literature in the West. I would like to offer the premise that one of the earliest indicators of what is happening—or will happen—in any discipline can be found in the research being done by entering scholars. If that premise holds true, then I would add that the field of western American literature is indeed undergoing a profound metamorphosis, one that reflects both an enlightened and inclusive attitude toward the American West. COMPLETED MASTERS THESES: American Literature Crippen, Larry Lee Huck, Tom, and No. 44: The Tripartite Twain. (M.A.) University of North Texas, 1994. Davis, Elizabeth (Lisa) J. Ultima as Earth Mother in Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima. (M A) Texas Women’s University, 1993. Frenzel, Lois Payne Letters of a Pioneer Woman in Texas: A Study. (M.A.) Texas A&M University-Kingsville, 1994. Research 411 Lamont, Victoria Elizabeth Writing Women Into America: Women, Democracy, and the Western, 1902-1920. (M.A.) University of Guelph (Canada), 1993. Leonard, Lisa C. Tracking and Trapping the Narrative Strategies of Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, and Tracks. (M.A.) McGill University (Canada), 1994. Power, Sherry Decker The Theme of Change: The Thread Running Through Six Kelton Novels. (M.A.) Tarleton State University, 1994. American Studies Geherin, Christopher David Vanishing the Indian...