| The first chapter of my dissertation focuses on one of four Apache songs of place and briefly examines other indigenous songs of place from other Native Peoples in order to illustrate the ideas of oral traditions holding geography as a library of stories and song. In turn, song provides a visionary map to the singer/listener. This action of understanding, which I label Nay Es Tee' Ni (Visibility of the Earth, from Apache Nay Es Tee-visibility & Ni-earth) illustrates that vision and power reside within the natural and control relates to one's interaction with the natural, rather than through Foucault's assertion that dominant cultures exert control over what is constructed and contained. This comparison of perception and power through Nay Es Tee' Ni sets in motion the active presence of the body of my dissertation. With the offering of transcriptions and/or translations of a large number of songs like the before mentioned, the 'hybrid' nature of the dissertation points to its fusion of the creative and the critical, making this dissertation the first creative dissertation in ASU English Department history. The final chapter of the dissertation is reserved for endnotes and a short summary of how I expect the body of work to change in future editions. |
