Native American Drama: A Critical Perspective

by Christy Stanlake

Overview

The recent rise in publications and professional productions of Native American plays moves Native theatre from specific, cultural communities into larger, more generalized audiences, who quickly discover that Native plays are uniquely different from mainstream drama. This is because Native theatre is its own field of drama, one that enacts Native intellectual traditions existing independently from western drama yet capable of extending mainstream theatrical theories. This study contends that Native dramaturgy possesses a network of distinctive discourses pertaining to Native American philosophies and relating to theatre's performative medium. Following an introduction that traces Native American theatre history from the 1900s to today, Native American Drama moves into a critical examination of Native dramaturgy. The study privileges voices of Native literary theorists, including Gerald Vizenor, Robert Allen Warrior, and LeAnne Howe, to introduce four Native discourses - platiality, storying, tribalography, and survivance - that intersect performative elements of space, speech, action, and movement.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521519809
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/13/2009
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

Table of Contents

1. A history of Native American drama; 2. Developing a critical perspective for Native American drama; 3. Native American platial history; 4. Platiality in Native American drama; 5. Native storytelling; 6. Storying and tribalography in Native American drama; 7. Representing uncontainable identities; 8. Acts of survivance in Native American drama; 9. Interconnected theories and the future of Native American drama.

Editorial Reviews

"… an important contribution to Native American studies. Stanlake succeeds in bringing to light the often-overlooked genre of drama in the field of Native American Literature. …[it] is an invaluable resource but also a testament to the wide-ranging dramaturgical elements of Native American Drama. Thoughtful in its scope, Stanlake's book provides an excellent overview for those interested in Native American Drama …"
Meredith K. James, Text and Presentation

From the Publisher