Sherman Alexie’s "The Toughest Indian in the World": Amalgamating the Oral and the Written Traditions
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17/12/2015
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| Resumo |
This article argues that The Toughest Indian in the World (2000) by Native-American author Sherman Alexie combines elements of his tribal (oral) tradition with others coming from the Western (literary) short-story form. Like other Native writers — such as Momaday, Silko or Vizenor — , Alexie is seen to bring into his short fiction characteristics of his people’s oral storytelling that make it much more dialogical and participatory. Among the author’s narrative techniques reminiscent of the oral tradition, aggregative repetitions of patterned thoughts and strategically-placed indeterminacies play a major role in encouraging his readers to engage in intellectual and emotional exchanges with the stories. Assisted by the ideas of theorists such as Ong (1988), Evers and Toelken (2001), and Teuton (2008), this article shows how Alexie’s short fiction is enriched and revitalized by the incorporation of oral elements. The essay also claims that new methods of analysis and assessment may be needed for this type of bicultural artistic forms. Despite the differences between the two modes of communication, Alexie succeeds in blending features and techniques from both traditions, thus creating a new hybrid short-story form that suitably conveys the trying experiences faced by his characters. |
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application/pdf |
| Identificador |
http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/CJES/article/view/51303 10.5209/rev_CJES.2015.v23.51303 |
| Publicador |
Ediciones Complutense |
| Relação |
http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/CJES/article/view/51303/47606 /*ref*/Acoose, Janice, Lisa Brooks and Tol Foster (2008). Reasoning Together: The Native Critics Collective. Norman and London: The University of Oklahoma Press. /*ref*/Alexie, Sherman (2000). The Toughest Indian in the World. New York: Grove Press. /*ref*/Allen, Paula Gunn (1983). Studies in American Indian Literature: Critical Essays and Course Design. Series: MLA Commission on the Literatures & Lang. New York: Modern Language Association of America. /*ref*/Berglund, Jeff and Jan Roush, eds. (2010). Sherman Alexie: A Collection of Critical Essays. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press. /*ref*/Bleaser, Kimberly M. (1996). Gerald Vizenor: Writing in the Oral Tradition. Norman and London: The University of Oklahoma Press. /*ref*/Bowers, Neal and Charles L.P. Silet (1981). An Interview with Gerald Vizenor. MELUS 8.1, special issue, Tensions and Form: 41-49. /*ref*/Brown Ruoff, A. LaVonne (1983). Old Traditions and New Forms. In Allen, Paula Gunn, ed., 147-68. /*ref*/Capriccioso, Robert (2003). Sherman Alexie: American Indian Filmmaker/Writer Talks with Robert Capriccioso. Identity Theory, 23 March. http://www. identitytheory.com/interviews/alexie_interview.html. Accessed 10/10/2013. /*ref*/Cline, Lynn (2000-2001). About Sherman Alexie: A Profile by Lynn Cline. Ploughshares 26.4: 197-202. /*ref*/Coulombe, Joseph L. (2011). Reading Native American Literature. London and New York: Routledge. /*ref*/Dauterich, Edward (2005). Hybrid Expression: Orality and Literacy in Jazz and Beloved. The Midwest Quarterly 47.1: 26-39. /*ref*/Doenges, Judy (2000). Of Reconciliation and Relationships; Sherman Alexie Shows a More Mature Side in The Toughest Indian in the World. The Seattle Times, 14 May. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20000514&slug =4020940. Accessed 10/10/2013. /*ref*/Evans, Stephen F. (2010). Indigenous Liaisons: Sex/Gender Variability, Indianness, and Intimacy in Sherman Alexie’s The Toughest Indian in the World. In Berglund, Jeff and Jan Roush, eds., 186-211. /*ref*/Evers, Larry and Barre Toelken (2001). Native American Oral Traditions: Collaboration and Interpretation. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press. /*ref*/Fixico, Donald L. (2000). The Urban Indian Experience in America. Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico Press. /*ref*/Foley, John M. (2001). Foreword. In Evers, Larry and Barre Toelken, eds., vii-xvi. /*ref*/Grassian, Daniel (2005). Understanding Sherman Alexie. Understanding Contemporary American Literature Series. Columbia, SC: The University of South Carolina Press. /*ref*/Grove Atlantic (2001). Review of The Toughest Indian in the World. Grove Atlantic, 20 April. http://www.groveatlantic.com/?title=Toughest+Indian+in+the+World. Accessed 10/10/2013. /*ref*/Hoffert, Barbara (2000). Review of The Toughest Indian in the World. Library Journal, 15 June, 125.11: 120. /*ref*/Jahner, Elaine (1983). Intermediate Forms between Oral and Written Literature. In Allen, Paula Gunn, ed., 66-74. /*ref*/Larson, Sidner (2000). Captured in the Middle: Tradition and Experience in Contemporary Native American Writing. Seattle: The University of Washington Press. /*ref*/Levi, Jonathan (2000). Nothing But Net. Review of The Toughest Indian in the World. Los Angeles Times, 18 June. http://articles.latimes.com/print/2000/jun/18 /books/bk-42020. Accessed 10/10/2013. /*ref*/Levine, Caroline (2013). The Great Unwritten: World Literature and the Effacement of Orality. Modern Language Quarterly 74.2: 217-237. /*ref*/Lincoln, Kenneth (1993). Indi’n Humor: Bicultural Play in Native America. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. /*ref*/Marx, Douglass (1996). Sherman Alexie: A Reservation of the Mind. Publisher’s Weekly, 16 September, 39-40. /*ref*/Oates, Joyce C. (2000). Haunted by Salmon. A Review of The Toughest Indian in the World. The New York Review of Books, 20 July. http://www.nybooks.com/ articles/archives/2000/jul/20/haunted-by-salmon/. Accessed 10/10/2013. /*ref*/Ong, Walter J. (1982, 1988). Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. Reprint. London and New York: Routledge. /*ref*/Ortiz, Simon (1977). Song, Poetry and Language — Expression and Perception. Scottsdale, AZ: Navajo Community College Press. /*ref*/Peluso, Robert (2000). Review of The Toughest Indian in the World by Sherman Alexie. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 27 August. http://old.post-gazette.com/ books/reviews/20000827review572.asp. Accessed 10/10/2013. /*ref*/Penn, William S. (1995). All My Sins Are Relatives. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. /*ref*/Penner, Jonathan (2000). Review of The Toughest Indian in the World by Sherman Alexie. The Washington Post, 9 July. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/books/reviews/toughestindianintheworld0710.htm. Accessed 10/10/2013. /*ref*/Peterson, Nancy J. (2010). The Poetics of Tribalism in Sherman Alexie’s The Summer of Black Widows. In Berglund, Jeff and Jan Roush, eds., 134-58. /*ref*/Tedlock, Dennis (1983). The Spoken Word and the Work of Interpretation. Philadelphia, PA: The University of Pennsylvania Press. /*ref*/Teuton, Christopher B. (2008). Theorizing American Indian Literature: Applying Oral Concepts to Written Traditions. In Acoose, Janice, Lisa Brooks and Tol Foster, eds., 193-215. /*ref*/Vizenor, Gerald (1984). The People Named the Chippewa: Narrative Histories. Minneapolis and London: The University of Minnesota Press. /*ref*/Warrior, Robert (2005). The People and the Word: Reading Native Nonfiction. Indigenous Americas Series. Minneapolis and London: The University of Minnesota Press. /*ref*/Womack, Craig S. (1999). Red on Red: Native American Literary Separatism. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press. |
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| Fonte |
Complutense Journal of English Studies; Vol 23 (2015); 137-160 Complutense Journal of English Studies; Vol 23 (2015); 137-160 |
| Palavras-Chave | #Oral tradition; Native Americans; Hybrid Forms of Fiction; Sherman Alexie; The Toughest Indian in the World. |
| Tipo |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
