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_________________________________________________________________________Swansea University E-Theses Synthesising a context-specific approach to Native American narratives: An analysis of philosophies of knowledge and cross- cultural communication in Native American and academic contexts. Kirby, Anne Louise How to cite: _________________________________________________________________________ Kirby, Anne Louise (2005) Synthesising a context-specific approach to Native American narratives: An analysis of philosophies of knowledge and cross-cultural communication in Native American and academic contexts.. thesis, Swansea University. http://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa42283 Use policy: _________________________________________________________________________ This item is brought to you by Swansea University. Any person downloading material is agreeing to abide by the terms of the repository licence: copies of full text items may be used or reproduced in any format or medium, without prior permission for personal research or study, educational or non-commercial purposes only. The copyright for any work remains with the original author unless otherwise specified. The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holder. Permission for multiple reproductions should be obtained from the original author. Authors are personally responsible for adhering to copyright and publisher restrictions when uploading content to the repository. Please link to the metadata record in the Swansea University repository, Cronfa (link given in the citation reference above.) http://www.swansea.ac.uk/library/researchsupport/ris-support/ SYNTHESISING A CONTEXT-SPECIFIC APPROACH TO NATIVE AMERICAN NARRATIVES: AN ANALYSIS OF PHILOSOPHIES OF KNOWLEDGE AND CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN NATIVE AMERICAN AND ACADEMIC CONTEXTS by Anne Louise Kirby Submitted to the University of Wales in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Swansea University ProQuest Number: 10797991 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10797991 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 In memory of Louis Owens In the Great American Indian novel, when it is finally written, all of the white people will be Indians and all of the Indians will be ghosts. Sherman Alexie, “How to Write the Great American Indian Novel” Pour out your cup. Hold it out empty. Fill it with stories. Joseph Bruchac, Our Stories Remember ABSTRACT This dissertation considers the tension between Native American and academic philosophies of knowledge and its implications for Native American literary and film criticism. Native American epistemologies tend to value knowledge that is experiential, implicit and reflected upon over a long period within a culturally meaningful environment. Academic epistemologies tend to value knowledge that can be fixed and communicated unambiguously in research papers. The research analyses the potential and limitations of three existing critical frameworks - “interruptive storytelling,” “conversive,” and “tribal-specific,” within a cross-cultural context, and considers which elements of each method might contribute to mediating between Native American and academic philosophies of knowledge. The “interruptive storytelling” approach exposes the interlocutor’s preconceptions and the limits on their understanding, initiating an “internal” dialogue that frustrates closure and mimics the openness of Native American narratives, but requires a level of reflexivity difficult for “outsider” researchers to achieve. The “conversive” approach seeks meaningfulness within the interconnections between all elements of the universe and democratises the critical process by undermining academic authority, but fails to acknowledge the rights of Native storytellers to limit access into their narratives. The “tribal-specific” approach inhibits the imposition of Eurocentric critical theories onto Native American texts, enabling narratives to be evaluated within a framework determined by tribally-specific aesthetics, but has limited potential in cross-cultural environment. By combining the most useful elements of each approach and applying them to context-specific readings of the films of Victor Masayesva and George Burdeau the research synthesises a new flexible critical approach that considers narratives not only within the context of their production, but also the context of their performance and enables the development of “reflexive resonance” in researchers that respects tribal epistemologies while conforming to standards of scholarly research. DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed... (candidate) Date STATEMENT 1 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Where correction services have been used, the extent and nature of the correction is clearly marked in a footnote(s). Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed (candidate) Date STATEMENT 2 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed (candidate) CONTENTS ACKNOWLEGEMENTS................................................................................ viii INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 1 Chapter PARTI. OVERVIEW: DEBATES AND CONTEXTS 1. PHILOSOPHIES OF KNOWLEDGE IN NATIVE AMERICAN AND ACADEMIC CONTEXTS..............................................................20 PART II. SYNTHESISING A CONTEXT SPECIFIC APPROACH TO NATIVE AMERICAN NARRATIVES 2. INTERRUPTIVE STORYTELLING AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY AS BORDER PEDAGOGY IN GREG SARRIS’S KEEPING SLUG WOMAN ALIVE........................................................................................81 SYNTHESISING A CONTEXT-SPECIFIC APPROACH I: AN INTERRUPTIVE STORYTELLING APPROACH TO THOMAS KING’S GREEN GRASS, RUNNING WATER, “ONE GOOD STORY, THAT ONE,” AND THE DEAD DOG CAFE COMEDY HOUR..................................................................................... 136 3. THE PROBLEMS OF SPEAKING FOR OTHERS AND SPEAKING FOR ONESELF IN SUSAN BERRY BRILL DE RAMIREZ’S CONVERSIVE LITERARY SCHOLARSHIP..................................... 149 SYNTHESISING A CONTEXT-SPECIFIC APPROACH II: CONVERSIVE AND INTERRUPTIVE APPROACHES TO DREW HAYDEN TAYLOR’S TORONTO AT DREAMER 'SROCK, SOMEDA Y AND ALTERNATIVES........................................................ 207 4. CREEK INTELLECTUALISM AND ABSTRACT PHILOSOPHIES OF KNOWLEDGE IN CRAIG S. WOMACK’S CREEK-SPECIFIC LITERARY CRITICISM.........................................................................222 SYNTHESISING A CONTEXT-SPECIFIC APPROACH III: INTERRUPTIVE STORYTELLING, CONVERSIVE AND TRIBAL-SPECIFIC READINGS OF JOY HARJO, LUCI TAPAHONSO AND NIA FRANCISCO................................................ 284 PART III. PUTTING A CONTEXT-SPECIFIC APPROACH INTO PRACTICE 5. SYNTHESISING A CONTEXT-SPECIFIC APPROACH TO NATIVE AMERICAN FILM NARRATIVES.........................................304 CONCLUSION.................................................................................................... 369 REFERENCE LIST............................................................................................. 380 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was funded by a University of Wales full studentship and a British Association for American Studies (BAAS) short term travel grant. Thanks are due to the following individuals and organisations: My dissertation supervisors, Dr. Michael McDonnell and Dr. Joy Porter Joseph and Carol Bruchac Nancy Davis and Steve Ward Thomas King Dawn T. Maracle Louis Owens Philip Red Eagle Drew Hayden Taylor Elizabeth Theobald Motion Picture and Television Reading Room, Library of Congress The Human Studies Film Archives, National Museum of Natural History The Museum of the American Indian, New York The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center And especially to my parents, for providing me with somewhere to live and endless cups of tea... ... and Satbeer, for being an oasis of calm. INTRODUCTION They live such simple lives, don’t they? Audience member at screening of Atanarjuat In the autumn of 2001,1 attended, at the Taliesin Cinema on the campus of the University of Wales Swansea, a screening of Zacharias Kunuk’s (Inuit) film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001).1 Atanarjuat is a full-length feature, filmed entirely in the Inuit language, Inuktitut (with subtitles), and portrays an epic story of love, hate, jealousy and murder in a traditional Inuit community. The screening had been advertised in the local press and was sold-out, every seat was filled. The narrative was complex, multi-levelled and challenging, as the feud between childhood friends Oki and Atanarjuat
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