Slezská Univerzita V Opavě
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SLEZSKÁ UNIVERZITA V OPAVĚ Filozoficko-přírodovědecká fakulta v Opavě Kateřina Fajová Obor: Angličtina (jednooborové) Development of Native American Literature with a Focus on Native American Women Writers in the Late Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Century Diplomová práce Opava 2020 Vedoucí diplomové práce PhDr. Diana Adamová, Ph.D. Abstract The thesis deals with the development of Native American literature with a focus on indigenous women writers in the 20th and 21st century. The major objective is to demonstrate the role of Native women writers in the process of self-awareness and survival of the Native American cultural heritage. The introductory part discusses the position of women in the pre- contact Native societies. Literature is analyzed in chronological order, starting with the oral storytelling traditions. The thesis is first concerned with the literature of Native women writers in the 19th century and analyzes the most important autobiographies of this period and works, which enabled preservation of the cultural heritage. Then Native literature of the 20th century is explored and its importance in the process of its further development is summarized. Emphasis is put on Native literature of the 21st century and new direction, which appear in modern Native literature due to a changing social environment. The analysis concludes that women, as in the pre-contact era, continue to be the storytellers owing to the women writers of the past two centuries who made the survival of the Native identity possible. Keywords: Native American, oral storytelling, autobiographies, cultural preservation, tradition, ceremony, feminism, self-awareness, identity. Abstrakt Tato práce se zabývá vývojem literatury původního obyvatelstva Severní Ameriky se zaměřením na spisovatelky této menšiny ve 20. a 21. století. Cílem práce je ukázat jakou roli hrály spisovatelky této menšiny v procesu sebeuvědomění a záchrany kulturního dědictví původního obyvatelstva. Úvod práce popisuje postavení žen v původních společenstvích v době předkolonizační. Analýza literatury je prováděna v chronologickém pořadí, s počátkem v tradičním vypravěčském umění. Práce se věnuje literatuře ženských autorů původního obyvatelstva 19. století a analyzuje nejvýznamnější biografická díla tohoto období a díla, která umožnila záchranu jejich kulturního dědictví. Práce dále zkoumá literaturu původního obyvatelstva ve 20. století a shrnuje důležitost této literatury v procesu jejího dalšího vývoje. Důraz je kladen na literaturu spisovatelek této menšiny ve 21. století a nové směry, které se v moderní literatuře původního obyvatelstva objevují díky neustále se měnícímu sociálnímu prostředí. Ženy, stejně jako v době předkolonizační, i nyní plní roli vypravěčů díky spisovatelkám minulých dvou století, které umožnily, že jejich kultura a tradice přežily. Klíčová slova: původní obyvatelstvo Severní Ameriky, vypravěčství, autobiografie, záchrana kultury, tradice, obřad, feminismus, sebeuvědomění, identita. Čestné prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem předkládanou diplomovou práci vypracovala samostatně, všechny použité prameny a literatura byly řádně citovány a práce nebyla využita k získání jiného nebo stejného titulu. V Opavě dne 25. 4. 2020 Podpis: Development of Native American Literature with a Focus on Native American Women Writers in the Late Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Century I. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..1 II. Native American storytelling…………………………………………………………...4 III. Nineteenth-century Native American literature………………………………………...8 i. Autobiographers and novelists of the nineteenth century…………………………10 ii. Cultural preservation as an aspect of the nineteenth century Native American literature....………………………………………………………………………....11 IV. Early twentieth century………………………………………………………………...14 i. Zitkala-Sa ……………………………………………………………………….....14 ii. American Indian Stories…………………………………………………………....18 V. Late Twentieth Century and the Native American Renaissance………………………..23 i. Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko………………………………………………..24 ii. Poetry of Jo Harjo………………………………………………………………….28 iii. Non-fiction by Paula Gunn Allen...………………………………………………..35 iv. Ranging across genres in Storyteller……………………………………………....39 VI. Proliferation of drama………………………………………………………………....44 i. Woman Who Was a Red Deer Dressed for the Deer Dance………………………..46 ii. Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light…………………………………… 48 VII. Overview and direction for the twenty-first century………………………………....53 VIII. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...61 1 I. Introduction Native American women’s expression was subdued since the European colonization. Before the colonists arrived, Native women had power within their families, were involved in internal decision making, were respected within their matrilineal clans.1 Their world was rather gynocentric, their traditions were tightly bound to ritual and spiritual understanding rather than on economic or political aims. In general women have more power “when descent is matrilineal, residence is matrilocal and restrictions on female sexuality is limited.”2 It is not coincidental that these woman-based traditions were suppressed and degraded due to the patriarchal system of the colonizers.3 The Native women suffered twice, first they were considered and treated as racially inferior and secondly as gender inferior. Women used to be central figures in keeping tribal cultures alive in the pre-contact era by telling stories and teaching the young generations. Since the nineteenth century Native and mixed-blood women have played a key role in activism, renewing the lost traditions, self-awareness and empowerment of the Native American communities, stricken by social problems as alcoholism, domestic violence and the overall feeling of non-belonging, suffered by the Natives4. I have turned my attention to Native Women writers to discover not only their artistic and literary talents, but also their resilience and determination to overcome the personal and cultural oppression and to help their communities rise up and “survive in the face of collective death.”5 Native American literature has evolved from anonymous and unwritten oral traditions to the current fully-fledged literary compositions. Native Americans are known to have chanted songs to bring rain, ease pain, overcome their enemies, pray for harvest, or even cure diseases. More so, they had prose short stories that focused on their origins, heroes, and 1 Devon Abbott Mihesuah, Indigenous American Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003), 43. 2 Laura F. Klein and Lillian A. Ackerman, Women and Power in Native North America (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995), 236. 3 Paula Gunn Allen, The Sacred Hoop (Boston: Beacon Press, 1992), 195. 4 Mihesuah, Indigenous American Women, 143-146. 5 Allen, The Sacred Hoop, 156. 2 religious affiliations. These oral traditions made up for a vibrant literary collection, which until recently were not known to the world as they were passed orally from one generation to the next. The first interpretations of these stories were done by missionaries and English speakers who translated the stories they heard from tribal elders. The turn of the twentieth century marked a new beginning for Native American literature with the autobiographical genre. Native American literature further developed in the late twentieth and early twenty- first century owing to prolific Native American women writers who have made great strides in using written language to represent the pertinent issues that are associated with their culture. Some of the dominant themes in their literature include betrayal, resentment, grief, defeat, and destruction of their native culture owing to US government policies, but also protest, tradition, feminism, gender, self-discovery, love and ultimate survival. An analysis of Native American literature concerning the women writers helps in establishing its uniqueness in storytelling as it has progressed through centuries. Each century marks a different phase in the development of this literature as each of them builds on the successes of the previous. For instance, the twentieth century witnessed the proliferation of more women writers most notably Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (1876-1938), who wrote under the pseudonym Zitkala-Sa (Red Bird). Some of Zitkala-Sa’s publications include American Indian Stories and Old Indian Legends which mirrored her experiences as an Indian growing up in a white-dominated society. This century witnessed the rising of more women writers including Leslie Marmon Silko (1948), Joy Harjo (1951), Linda Hogan (1959), Paula Gunn Allen (1939-2008), Diane Glancy (1941), LeAnn Howe (1951) and many others from both the literary and academic circles. These women focused on different literary genres including novels, poetry, non- fiction works, as well as drama. The thesis focuses on the novel Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, poetry of Jo Harjo, the collection of non-fiction essays The Sacred Hoop by Paula Gunn Allen and Silko’s multi-genre Storyteller. Some of the most notable drama include Woman Who Was a Red Deer Dressed for the Deer Dance (Diane Glancy) and Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light (Joy Harjo). The developments of the twentieth century have left a massive imprint on the Native American literature. Recent times create more opportunities for Native American writers to write about newer experiences while sticking to their cultural identity. 3 The thesis focuses on the historical development