Voices from Four Directions
Contemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America
Format:Paperback
Publisher:University of Nebraska Press
Published:1st May '04
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Gathers stories and songs from thirty-one Native groups in North America
Storytelling and singing is a vital part of community life for Native peoples. This book gathers stories and songs from many Native groups in North America - including the Inupiaqs in the frigid North, the Lushootseeds along the forested coastline of the far West, the Catawbas in the humid South, and the Maliseets of the rugged woods of the East.Storytelling and singing continue to be a vital part of community life for Native peoples today. Voices from Four Directions gathers stories and songs from thirty-one Native groups in North America—including the Iñupiaqs in the frigid North, the Lushootseeds along the forested coastline of the far West, the Catawbas in the humid South, and the Maliseets of the rugged woods of the East. Vivid stories of cosmological origins and transformation, historical events remembered and retold, as well as legendary fables can be found in these pages. Well-known Trickster figures like Raven, Rabbit, and Coyote figure prominently in several tales as do heroes of local fame such as Tom Laporte of the Maliseets. The stories and songs entertain, instruct, and recall rich legacies as well as obligations. Many are retellings and reinventions of classic narratives, while others are more recent creations.
Award-winning poet and critic Brian Swann has gathered some of the richest and most diverse literatures of Native North America and provides an introduction to the volume. In addition, each story is introduced and newly translated.
Praise for Brian Swann's previous anthology Coming to Light: Contemporary Translations of the Native Literatures of North America: "This is by far the best anthology of translations from Native American oral traditions ever published... [Swann's] deft editorial touch maintains the rich and challenging cultural distances represented in these lively stories and songs while making them all accessible enough to engage a very wide American reading audience."oChoice. "The largesse of accumulated wisdom, good sense, and grappling intelligence contained within its pages offers the reader an ample reward."oMinneapolis Star Tribune. "Coming to Light offers a copious, easily accessible starting point for anyone interested in reading and learning about Native American narratives and poetry."oNew York Times Book Review. "Brian Swann is one of the world's foremost authorities and gatherers of Native American materials."oSan Jose Mercury News. "[A] splendid anthology of story and song... Blending deep respect with critical acumen, Coming to Light teaches us to read Native texts as instances of the struggle to understand and be understood that is implicit in all cultural expression."oChicago Tribune. "An extraordinary book, a work that displays almost the full range of Native American literatures and does so with responsibility, authority, and brilliance."oLos Angeles Times. "Swann's edition should be considered a valuable assessment of ethnopoetics, and will prove both challenging and rewarding to the beginning Native American Studies student and to those general readers who have an interest in Native literature."oWorld Literature Today
ISBN: 9780803293106
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 1111g
619 pages