Guest lecture, March 7: Nicole Perry: “German Indianthusiasm and Indigenous Remasterings”

7 March 2019, 4 pm, Odette Hall 323

The German fascination with North American Indigenous peoples is as bizzare as it is extensive. While it is primarily based on the writings of Karl May, it is also indicative of the German historical and cultural legacies of the 18th and 19th centuries. Many North American Indigenous artists, writers, filmmakers, and performance artists are aware of this phenomenon and are often met with resistance from a German perspective when they add their voices into the conversation. Kent Monkman(Cree/Irish) and Drew Hayden Taylor (Anishinaabe) are two of these individuals. By exploring their oeuvre, we can explore ideas of colonialism, sexuality, and contemporaneity- all of which are challenged and expose deep-rooted cultural and societal truths regarding Indigenous peoples in North America and their Indianer counterparts.

NICOLE PERRY is a Senior Lecturer in German and Comparative Literature at the University of Auckland. After her PhD in 2012 at the University of Toronto, she held two postdoctoral positions at the University of Vienna. The first on the critical edition of Charles Sealsfield’s letters and the second, funded by the Austrian Science Fund, for her project “Performing Germanness, Reclaiming Aboriginality” (2014-2017), which looks at Indigenous re-appropriations of the German “Indianer”.

If you have any accommodation needs, please e-mail german@chass.utoronto.ca five business days prior to the event, and we will do our best to assist you.