Within this system Hogan wants readers to remember they are “somewhere between the mountain and the ant.” By accepting this, Hogan considers that one must see their place in the world as a small part of a bigger structure in which everything is alive and has a desire to live. Consequently, she takes apart the Western and often Biblical notion, that humans have dominion over the earth, and her worldview places humanity within the overall organization. In her novel Mean Spirit, the character Horse, exemplifies the critique stating, “I think the Bible is full of mistakes. I thought I would correct them. For instance, where does it say that all living things are equal?” Failing to recognize the equality of living beings has broken the covenant that used to exist between humans and other …show more content…
animals, and her work challenges the dominant culture to change the views that have disrupted these relations. As a logical extension of her views toward the earth, Hogan is receptive and respectful of all peoples and cultures, but she remains critical of those that do not hold the same respect for others, or life itself. Throughout her work she uses a wide variety of sources from across cultures to make her points, and as scholar Benay Blend points out, “her warning that Indian people must not be the only caretakers of the land implies a willingness to cross borders to ensure healing of the earth and perhaps its people, too.” Nevertheless, supporting indigenous cultural understandings and worldviews provide further background to her work. Hogan champions the use of the oral tradition in much of her writing.
Within Western academic culture the use of oral accounts has often been questioned or ridiculed. However, the tradition remains an important aspect of indigenous cultures, and Hogan emphasizes its significance. Although the main narrator of her novel Solar Storms is Angel, other narrators highlight sections with numerous oral accounts. These segments provide character histories and fill in the back-story, but they serve a larger purpose as well. Printed in italics and written from a first person point of view, as if someone was speaking the stories, these parts show the value and purpose that the oral tradition serves for indigenous people. Hogan confronts this issue directly in her short story “Meeting.” In an early scene a section of dialogue appears to be nothing more than rumor, but she corrects the reader stating, “It was not gossip. It was the history of our living.” While not all oral history sounds like gossip, Hogan points to the variety of function and meaning that the oral tradition encompasses. For her, its use is vital in the way indigenous people form meaning and memory in their
lives. Further, Hogan cultivates the importance of indigenous ways of being and knowing, by presenting lessons about respect for elders. In all three of her novels there are strong elder characters that provide knowledge and examples by living traditional ways. Mean Spirit exemplifies the idea of returning to indigenous ways of knowing and living, using the traditional people that live beyond the city limits as social teachers and eventual saviors. They are the people to whom many of the indigenous characters must return at the end of the story, as life has spun desperately out of balance. In Solar Storms, characters such as Bush and Dora-Rouge, teach the younger Angel respect for their way of being in the world.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down tells the story of a young Hmong girl stricken with epilepsy, her family, her doctors, and how misunderstandings between cultures can lead to tragedy. The title comes from the Hmong term for epilepsy, which translated, is “the spirit catches you and you fall down”. Anne Fadiman alternates between chapters on Hmong history or culture and chapters on the Lees, and specifically Lia. The condensed history of the Hmong portrayed here starts at their beginning, and traces their heritage, their movements, and why they do what they do as they flee from enemies to country to country. This record allows the reader to better understand the Lees and their situation without bogging him down with details that may
“The Fire,” chapter two of the novel “Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler is about how Dana survives in the past after she is conscious of where and when she is. The story starts with Dana frightened of being transported again, which she did. After saving the boy, Rufus, from burning his house, she discovered that she has gone to the past, 1815, and that Rufus was her ancestor. Since it was the age where slavery was present, she escaped Rufus’ house in fear of being slaved to search for Alice, another one of her ancestor, hoping to get shelter. She found it at the time Alice’s family was raided by the whites, and Alice’s father was captured. She helped Alice’s family, but soon after she was discovered by a white man. Dana knocked him unconscious, then returned home. Afterwards, Kevin and her prepared Dana in an event where she get transported again.
Thomas King uses an oral story-telling style of writing mingled with western narrative in his article “You’re Not the Indian I Had in Mind” to explain that Indians are not on the brink of extinction. Through this article in the Racism, Colonialism, and Indigeneity in Canada textbook, King also brings some focus to the topic of what it means to be “Indian” through the eyes of an actual Aboriginal versus how Aboriginals are viewed by other races of people. With his unique style of writing, King is able to bring the reader into the situations he describes because he writes about it like a story he is telling.
King, Thomas. “Let Me Entertain You. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005. 61-89. Print.
McNickle, D'Arcy. "A Different World." Native American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology. Ed. Vizenor, Gerald. United States of America: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, 1995, 111-119.
Topic/ Thesis Statement: Don’t judge a book by its cover, some people are not who they claim to be, or looks can be deceiving.
Storytelling is known to be a part of many people’s childhood. These stories told from parents and guardians, are often told so that the children will either quickly fall asleep, or be entertained. However, in Three Day Road, written by Joseph Boyden, the deeper meaning behind storytelling is revealed through the Cree’s perspective. Throughout the novel, readers are able to understand that storytelling allows Xavier to regenerate, and establish deeper connections with Niska. Also, the journey to accepting reality is demonstrated through Xavier’s adventure. Ultimately, Boyden displays storytelling as a form of revitalizing one’s human spirit.
I’m fascinated by the spoken word variety of storytelling. Splintered Literacies, when tied into my personal experience surrounding Native American and Spanish American literature drew me to the realization that grammatically correct English, the variety found typeset in classrooms and institutions, lacks substantial oral tradition. The author and extended family from rural Appalachia clearly value the stories passed down through the generations. Her account of her grandfather’s experience
As Silko says, "Where I come from, the words most highly valued are those spoken from the heart, unpremeditated and unrehearsed. Among Pueblo people, written speech or statement is highly suspect because the true feelings of speaker remain hidden as she read the words that are detached from the occasion and audience. " (pg 1 ) Now days, whenever you turn on TV or Radio, and there is somebody giving speech, it is read off the paper that has been written by a professional and proof read by a lawyer or two. Silko is absolutely and right, and I agree with her that the speaker does not express what she or he had in the heart and wanted others to hear. For pueblo people, storytelling is very important. "Pueblo expression resembles something like a spider web - with many little threads radiating from the center, crisscrossing each other. As with the web, the structure emerges as it is made and you must simply listen and trust, as Pueblo people do, that meaning will be made." (pg 1 ) From reading this essay, I noticed that one of the distinctive ways stories are told at Laguna Pueblo, many individual words have their own stories, and there are few dimensions of story telling, which always includes the listeners, and story identity. No matter what kind of story is being told, it always has the origins. And since everything and everybody have different origins an...
In “The Truth about Stories”, Thomas King, demonstrate connection between the Native storytelling and the authentic world. He examines various themes in the stories such as; oppression, racism, identity and discrimination. He uses the creational stories and implies in to the world today and points out the racism and identity issues the Native people went through and are going through. The surroundings shape individuals’ life and a story plays vital roles. How one tells a story has huge impact on the listeners and readers. King uses sarcastic tone as he tells the current stories of Native people and his experiences. He points out to the events and incidents such as the government apologizing for the colonialism, however, words remains as they are and are not exchanged for actions. King continuously alerts the reader about taking actions towards change as people tend to be ignorant of what is going around them. At the end people give a simple reason that they were not aware of it. Thus, the author constantly reminds the readers that now they are aware of the issue so they do not have any reason to be ignorant.
The one of the main themes in the epilogue, and in the entire novel is
Belle did her best to conceal these holes. Moses, her husband, and Floyd, her son in law, helped her. They spent the day ''covering the seeping oil as best as they could'' (Hogan, Mean Spirit 229). Nola's watchers, who were Hill Indians, likewise, ''rush to cover the wound with rock'' (Brice 130). They departed immediately; they ''didn't want to be around the broken earth's black blood and its pain'' ((Hogan, Mean Spirit 229).
Storytelling has a special importance in culture throughout the African continent; Anansi the spider in Ghana, is one great example of an African fable that teaches children important lessons including respect for elders, the importance of wisdom, and the importance of culture. These stories have been retained and perpetuated by oral tradition, despite the western emphasis on written records; African tribes have preserved history and culture well thorough oral historians. The translator, D.T. Niane, explains the validity of oral history well by stating that written text can contain inaccuracies as well (xv). The importance of the oral aspect of djelis method relays the information in a personal manner, as Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate states, “writing lacks the warmth of the human voice,” therefore by creating a written text of an oral story it “does violence” to it (xvi). I was raised in an African community, here in DC and was lucky enough to attend Djeli performances by family friend, Djimo Kouyate, and later his son Amadou. Although I do not speak Manding, Djeli Djimo Koyate, performed the music in such a way that I was able to relate and...
Oftentimes accounts are told in only one perspective, such as the struggle between Native Americans and white Anglo-Saxon Americans. Through utilizing texts like “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” and “Evolution” by Sherman Alexie, “Ellis Island” by Joseph Bruchac-III, and “Don’t Drink the Water” by The Dave Matthews Band, authors can convey multiple perspectives to the audience. By contrasting the different viewpoints between Native Americans and white Anglo-Saxon Americans, the authors are able to present a more complete picture of the story and establish the theme, purpose, and style of the work.
Have you ever studied the Native American beliefs and heritages? Some stories told by the Indians are “The Origin of The Buffalo and The Corn,” “The First False Face,” and “The Coyote.” How are these stories similar? How are they different? We will organize them in three sections: characters, climaxes, and endings/resolutions.