COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS:
In the history of colonialism, encounters and shifting power relations between incoming colonisers and the colonies’ indigenous populations have always played a pivotal role. They have also left a lasting, far-reaching impact that has endured long beyond the formal end of imperialism, into the post-independence histories, cultures, economies and politics of formerly colonised countries. This is especially the case in former ‘settler colonies’ where colonising incomers came to outweigh the indigenous peoples demographically and culturally – for instance in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Despite the immense cultural and geographical differences between them, indigenous peoples in all those countries have often faced similar problems in their attempts to deal with those (post)colonial situations. This has given rise to ‘Comparative Indigenous Studies’ as a field of academic knowledge production. Comparative perspectives have also informed various projects of political and cultural activism (e.g. in order to intervene in post-colonial public memory discourses, build solidarity, form coalitions and learn from each other’s strategies), as well as literary productions. Comparative perspectives necessarily involve looking beyond one’s own particular culture, even if this is often done with the aim of safeguarding the latter’s specific ethnic traditions and rights. Such outward-looking perspectives have also been associated with a stance that is often called “indigenous cosmopolitanism” – but the cosmopolitan can also go further: beyond ‘merely’ seeking connections with other indigenous peoples, it can also involve an espousal of other transnational and transcultural connections.
This course will provide an introduction to these issues, combining regionally specific introductions to selected indigenous cultures from different parts of the globe with comparative perspectives on (potentially) shared problems and strategies, an exploration of trans-indigenous alliances and solidarities, as well as analyses of texts that espouse various kinds of cosmopolitanism. Key topics for our discussions include colonial experiences and trauma, hybridity, survivance, educational and language debates, cultures of memory, interfaces of localism and translocalism, political solidarities, as well as the develop¬ment of new cultural forms. We will also investigate potential problems which comparative and cosmopolitan visions may involve.
We will use a wide range of sources, including history and memory discourse, literary texts, statements by politicians and activists, and academic theory. Regions we’ll look at will definitely include (parts of) North American, Australia and New Zealand. Additional comparative perspectives (also on countries with smaller proportions of settlers, e.g. some of the smaller Pacific Islands) may also be included.


SET TEXTS:
Most of our set texts (literary & non-literary texts, filmic material, etc.) will be relatively short, and their selection will be finalised in consultation with students; to leave enough room for students to choose their own foci of interest.
As a starting point, only a single text has already been set, of which you should definitely get a copy (but you don’t need to read this until after mid-December, by which time you’ll have the requisite background knowledge). It is:
• Witi Ihimaera, “The Thrill of Falling” (a Maori novella from New Zealand), in Ihimaera, The Thrill of Falling, Auckland: Vintage 2012, pp. 208-312. (In Germany, this is only available as an e-book at present, but the e-book comes in different formats (see publisher’s website for an overview: https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/the-thrill-of-falling-9781869799212), and at least some of those formats (e.g. Amazon Kindle; price c.7 €) can also be read without an e-book reader, via a normal computer via a free app. So you should be able to purchase & read it OK. If you have problems with the e-book format, please contact S. Stroh for emergency advice. We’ll also purchase a copy of the book for the departmental library (Semesterapparat), as another emergency fall-back.)
Most of our other set texts, once chosen, will be made available via our online course platform Stud.IP.

OPTIONAL EXTRA READING:
If you would like to do some preliminary / extra reading on social and literary history, and/or need advice on texts to read in preparation for your presentations, you will be able to access a bibliography of key introductory texts on Stud.IP from the beginning of term onwards.
Some of those texts will also be made available via our course bookshelf in the university library.