ABSTRACT
Native American literature underwent a renaissance around 1968, and the current canon of novels written in the late twentieth century in American English by Native American or mixed-blood authors is diverse, exciting and flourishing. Despite this, very few such novels are accepted as part of the broader American literary canon. A number of factors contribute to this situation, including the contentious area of tribal allegiance versus cross-cultural textual politics. While Arnold Krupat has led the field in advocating a cosmopolitan criticism of Native American texts, Nativist intellectuals have argued stridently for a separatist position.1 I respect the case for a strong tradition of Native literary criticism, and understand why Robert Allen Warrior and Jace Weaver, among others, call for the development of an autonomous Native American intellectual community. European by birth and inclination, I could never pretend to participate in this essential project. At the same time I would feel dismay if the movement towards establishing intellectual sovereignty for America’s First Nations were to preclude me from reading published novels. Common sense tells me that my acts of reading and interpretation contribute to a larger sense of community that implicitly supports the current work of Nativist scholars.
