Ringvorlesung Amerikanistik
Sommersemester 2006
Native American Literature
Günter Beck
“The indian is a simulation, the absence of natives; the indian transposes the real, and the simulation of the real has no referent, memory, or native stories. The postindian must
waver over the aesthetic ruins of Indian simulations.” (Gerald Vizenor, Fugitive Poses: Native American Indian Scenes of Absence and Presence, 1998)
Eckdaten Indianischer Geschichte
N(avarre) Scott Momaday (Kiowa/Cherokee), House Made of Dawn (1968)
siehe hierzu u.a.: Nies, Judith. Native American History: A Chronology of a Culture’s
geb. 1934 Lawton, OK; aufgewachsen Navajo Reservation, NM, Jemez Pueblo, AZ
Vast Achievements and Their Links to World Events. New York: Ballantine, 1996.
Englisch-Studium in Stanford; heute Prof. für engl. Lit. an U of Arizona
Native American Literature in English
„I would say that much of my writing has been concerned with the question of man’s
1772 Samson Occom (Mohegan), A Sermon Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul
relationship to the earth, for one thing. Another theme that has interested me is man’s
Bis ca. 1900 v.a. Predigt-u. Protestliteratur, Stammesgeschichten, Reiseberichte, Autorelationship to himself, to his past and heritage. When I was growing up on the reserbiographien
vations of the Southwest, I saw people who were deeply involved in their traditional
1854 John Rollin Ridge (Cherokee) Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta [Roman]
life, in the memories of their blood. They had, as far as I could see, a certain strength
1927 Mourning Dove (Okanogan), Cogewea [Roman]
and beauty that I find missing in the modern world at large. I like to celebrate that
1932 John Neihardt und Black Elk [Sioux] Black Elk Speaks [as-told-to-Biographie]
involvement in my writing.” (Interview mit Joseph Bruchac, Survival This Way, 1987)
1932 Rollie Lynn Riggs (Cherokee) The Cherokee Night [Drama]
House Made of Dawn: Pulitzer-Preis – Titel aus dem Navajo Night Chant
1936 D’Arcy McNickle (Métis Cree/Salish) The Surrounded [Roman]
Zyklische Struktur aus traditionellen Formen und modernistischen Bewusstseinsdarab 1968 “Native American Renaissance” (K. Lincoln)
stellungen: zahlreiche Perspektivwechsel, Zeitsprünge, Rückblenden, eingelagerte
Kennzeichen moderner indigener Literatur:
Erzählungen, Prosagedichte, Tagebucheinträge, Gebete, Mythen
Rückbesinnung auf eigene Traditionen (z.B. „Trickster“, Rituale, „storytelling“)
statt Objektivitäts- und Faktizitätsanspruch: Akzentuierung achronologischer,
Hanay Geiogamah (Kiowa/Delaware), Body Indian (1972) und 49 (1975)
akausaler und nicht-sequenzieller Vorgänge
geb. 1945 Lawton, OK; Studium Journalismus U of Oklahoma; 1972 Gründung
Ablehnung stereotyper Wahrnehmungen
American Indian Theater Ensemble in New York; 1987 Gründung American Indian
direkt und bewusst gegen amerikan. Mythos vom kontinuierlichen Neubeginn
Dance Theater; Professor UCLA American Indian Studies Center
statt „Deterritorialisierung“ (G. Deleuze): „Reterritorialisierung“ und „homing plot“
“Of course we’ve lived through a tragedy, there’s no doubt about that, but the capacity
(W. Bevis)
to renew oneself, and to heal oneself, and to take care of oneself is always there,
holistisches Gegenmodell als healing: posttraumatisch-therapeutische Idenalways has been there.” (Interview mit Kenneth Lincoln, 1989)
titätsarbeit
Body Indian: Titel ist ironische Metapher; zyklischer Aufbau; realistisches
Sozialdrama;
Thema: Verlust der Gemeinschaft
“Ultimately, whereas postmodernism celebrates the fragmentation and chaos of ex49: Titel bezieht sich auf sog. 49ers (von Jugendlichen im Anschluss an Powwows
perience, literature by Native American authors tends to seek transcendence of such
gefeierte Party); „musical play“; zyklischer Aufbau; Thema: Revitalisierung durch
ephemerality and the recovery of ‘eternal and immutable’ elements represented by a
erstarkende Hinwendung zu traditionellen Wurzeln
spiritual tradition that escapes historical fixation, that places humanity within a carefully cyclically ordered cosmos and gives humankind irreducible responsibility for the
Luci Tapahonso (Diné), „In 1964“ (1993)
maintenance of the delicate equilibrium.” (Louis Owens, Other Destinies: Undergeb. 1953 Shiprock, NM; studierte Journalismus und Englisch U of New Mexico
standing the American Indian Novel, 1992)
unter Leslie M. Silko; heute: Professorin American Indian Studies Dep. U of Arizona
wichtige Vertreter der Native Literature in den USA: Sherman Alexie, Paula G.
Allen, Peter Blue Cloud, Joseph Bruchac, Vine Deloria, Jr., Louis Erdrich, Linda
Hogan, Joy Harjo, LeAnne Howe, Simon Ortiz, Louis Owens, Spiderwoman Theater,
Greg Sarris, Leslie Marmon Silko, Gerald Vizenor, James Welch
„I know that I cannot divide myself or separate myself from that place - my home, my
land, and my people. And that realization is my security and my mainstay in life away
from here.” (Vorwort zu ihrem Gedichtband One More Shiprock Night, 1981)
autobiogr. Dichtung in Navajo und Englisch („then he sees the coffee can./Oh,
that’s the coffee with/the man in the dress, like a church man./ah-h, that’s the one that
does it for me./very good coffee./I sit down again and he tells me/some coffee has no
kick but/this one is the one./It does it good for me.” aus: “Hills Brothers Coffee”)
“In 1864”: Mischung aus mündlichen Erzählformen und Lyrik; Identitätsstiftung
über Auseinandersetzung mit Geschichte im Akt des „storytelling“
N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn (1968)
(from: Prologue) “Dypaloh. There was a house made of
dawn. It was made of pollen and of rain, and the land was
very old and everlasting. There were many colors on the
hills, and the plain was bright with different-colored clays
and sands. Red and blue and spotted horses grazed in the
plain, and there was a dark wilderness on the mountains
beyond. The land was still and strong. It was beautiful all
around. […]”
(from: The Longhair) “Abel and the white man […] spoke
low to each other, carefully, as if the meaning of what they
said was strange and infallible. Now and then the white
man laughed, and each time it carried too high on the scale
and ended in a strange, inhuman cry - as of pain. It was an
old woman’s laugh, thin and week as water. It issued only
from the tongue and teeth of the great evil mouth, and it
fell away from the blue lips and there was nothing left of
it. […] Abel waited. The white man raised his arms, as if
to embrace him, and came forward. But Abel had already
taken hold of the knife, and he drew it. He leaned inside
the white man’s arms and drove the blade up under the
bones of the breast and across. The white man’s hands lay
on Abel […]. The white immensity of flesh lay over and
smothered him. He withdrew the knife and thrust again,
lower, deep into the groin. The whole strength of his arm
and back lay into the slant of the blade across the bowels,
and the flesh split open and the steaming gore fell out
upon his hand. The white hands still lay upon him as if in
benediction, and the awful gaze of the head, still fixed
upon something beyond and behind him. […] Abel threw
down the knife and the rain fell upon it and made it clean.
When he looked up, the white man still was standing
there, still intent upon some vision in the near distance
waiting. He seemed just then to wither and grow old. In
the instant before he fell, his great white body grew erect
and seemed to cast off its age and weight; it grew supple
and sank slowly to the ground, as if the bones were
dissolving within.”
Hanay Geiogamah, Body Indian (1972)
HOWARD: (to James) Sonny, I want you to take us to
white man bootleggers on Washington Street. He’ll give
us what we need for this (indicating artificial leg). He’ll
let Bobby have it back when Bobby can get it out. […]
Howard and Thompson prepare to leave […] the leg
wrapped in a dingy blanket. Drum and rattles now begin
a gradual rise to the end of the scene. […] The track
visuals appear in sharp contrast over Bobby’s stretchedout body. Some time passes […] before the train whistle
is heard. The sound grows louder and awakens Bobby.
He feels around on his body and discovers that his
artificial leg has been removed. He pulls himself up,
speaks increasingly louder so as to be heard over the
train sounds. […]. There is a sardonic smile fixed on his
face. BOBBY: Welll, h-ell-o, Bobby Lee. How are you,
hites? Lo-ng time no … seee. He reaches for his
crutches, has trouble securing them. Sitting upright on
the edge of the bed, he looks straight ahead at a flashing
train light, an entirely different mood about him now as
horror overtakes him. I can hear .. a … train … that …
train … my leg … that train’s gonna hit … my ... ley-g!
Hanay Geiogamah, 49 (1975)
WEAVING WOMAN: I have had this design since my
mother gave it to me many years ago. She took the
pattern from the red ants as they make their way. She
wove some of her own hair into the design so that part of
her could be with the blanket as long as the blanket lives.
[…] It will be yours, and theirs, and ours, if you make it
so beautiful that nobody else can duplicate its beauty.
The tribe will be honoured for the beauty you create.
SECOND GIRL: But … our way .. is … is … changing.
How will we make our designs live in the blankets if we
have no … sheep to give us wool for the loom?
WEAVING WOMAN: A design can live and grow for
many years before it is placed on the loom. You can
always see it ... when you close your eyes.
Luci Tapahonso, “In 1864”
In 1864, 8354 Navajos were forced to walk from Dinetah to
Bosque Redondo in southern New Mexico, a distance of three
hundred miles. They were held for four years until the U.S.
government declared the assimilation attempt a failure. More
than 2,500 died of smallpox and other illnesses, depression,
severe weather conditions, and starvation. The survivors returned
to Dinetah in June 1868.
While the younger daughter slept, she dreamt of
mountains,/the wide blue sky above, and friends
laughing./We talked as the day wore on. The stories and
highway beneath/became a steady hum. The center lines
were a blurred guide./As we neared the turn to Fort Sumner
I remember this story […]
The place contained the pain and cries of his relatives,/the
confused and battered spirits of his own existence./After we
stopped for a Coke and chips, the storytelling resumed:/My
aunt always started the story saying, “You are here/because
of what happened to your great-grandmother long ago.” […]
All that was certain was that we/were leaving Dinetah, our
home./As the days went by, we grew more tired, and
soon,/the journey was difficult for all of us, even the
military./And it was they who thought all this up. […] Two
women were near the time of the births of their babies,/and
they had a hard time keeping up with the rest./Some army
men pulled them behind a huge rock, and we screamed out
loud/when we heard the gunshots. The women didn’t make
a sound. […]
The car hums steadily, and my daughter is crying
softly./Tears stream down her face. She cannot speak, Then
I tell her that/it was at Bosque Redondo the people learned
to use flour and now/fry bread is considered to be the
“traditional” Navajo bread./It was there that we acquired a
deep appreciation for strong coffee./The women began to
make long, tiered calico skirts/and fine velvet shirts for the
men. They decorated their dark velvet/blouses with silver
dimes, nickels, and quarters./They had no use for money
then./It is always something to see – silver flashing in the
sun/against dark velvet and black, black hair.
Literatur: Fleck, Richard F., Hg. Critical Perspectives on Native American Fiction. Washington: Three Continents Press, 1993.
Geiogamah, Hanay und Jaye T. Darby, Hgg. American Indian Theater in Performance: A Reader. Los Angeles: UCLA American Indian Studies Center, 2000.
Horne, Dee. Contemporary American Indian Writing: Unsettling Literature. New York: Peter Lang, 1999.
Krupat, Arnold. The Voice in the Margin: Native American Literature and the Canon. Berkeley: U of California P, 1989.
Porter, Joy, Hg. The Cambridge Companion to Native American Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2005.
Ruoff, A. LaVonne Brown. American Indian Literatures: An Introduction, Bibliographic Review, and Selected Bibliography. New York: MLA, 1990.