Writing from the Contact Zone
Native American Autobiography in the Nineteenth Century

Area 10 – Scienze dell'antichità, filologico-letterarie e storico-artistiche

In this work Native American autobiography is taken as an example of cultural mediation and translation. Native autobiographical texts can be considered as the “translation” of cultural categories from a system into another. The genre of autobiography, interpreted as an act of self-translation, is analysed through the work of Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, an influential and controversial Nineteenth century Paiute’s spokesperson. She was the first Native American woman to write and publish a book in English: Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims (1883). Her work is examined through the lens of Translation and Cultural Studies, two multi-focal disciplines which have enriched the already existing variety of interpretations centred around the first Native American writing activity in the United States. Lorena Carbonara was awarded a PhD in Translation: Theory and Practice from the University of Bari, Italy, in 2009. She has published articles on Native American autobiography and on the connection between auto-bio-ethno-graphy and translation practices. Her current research interests include Translation Studies, Native American Studies and Women’s Studies, all taken form a cross-cultural perspective.

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