Sherman Alexie

In the spring of 2020, the renowned Cameroonian philosopher and historian Achille Mbembe became the center of a significant controversy in Germany. He was accused of antisemitism for allegedly relativizing the Holocaust by drawing comparisons with apartheid in South Africa. Responding to this scandal, Michael Rothberg-himself accused of antisemitism following the German publication of his book Multidirectional Memory on March 21, 2021remarked, "Germany is haunted by the specter of comparison." These controversies are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of public debates on Holocaust memory in Germany over the past four years. Shortly thereafter, a heated dispute arose surrounding A. Dirk Moses's blog article titled The Catechism, followed by a more recent debate on antisemitism in the context of the Documenta exhibition curated by an Indonesian artist collective. All these controversies revolve-explicitly or implicitly-around a dominant German commemorative culture that emerged in the aftermath of reunification in the 1990s. All these debates reveal an underlying fear. According to Rothberg, dominant public discourse in Germany presumes that drawing comparisons between the Holocaust and other historical events diminishes the gravity of this crime initiated by Germans. This belief has resulted in a rigorous monitoring and regulation of both public and academic discussions. This official culture of remembrance is characterized by the assertion of the Holocaust's historical singularity. Micheal Rothberg thinks that "Defining the Holocaust as unique -in official memory culture if not in scholarship -removes it from the field of ordinary historical understanding, which necessarily relies on comparison and relative commensurability between different events". This study situates itself within this context and seeks to offer a meaningful contribution to the progression and deepening of the debate.

This study looks into the assimilation and hybridization of Natives in Euro-American culture in Sherman Alexie's Flight (2007). The study reveals that the hybridization of Native Americans is the ultimate consequence of innate resistance against abuse and marginalization in the post-contact world. The study endorses survival/endurance proximity, as suggested by Gerald Vizenor. The selected work, a magical realist text, narrates the quest of a Native American teenage boy Zits who, in search of his true identity, ultimately has reached his self-illumination. The study positions hybridity as an antidote to the essentialist position of purity and ethnicity. Zits' Native self is a victim of forced kidnapping and forged an identity in a post-contact multi-cultural society, hence 'mutual and mutable .'Employing Bhabha's notion of hybridity as a lens, the study magnifies the survivance of the protagonist in the contemporary world and analyzes the text through Greg Sarris' "integrative approach ."The study illustrates that Alexie's text paves the way to a bridging position that helps the native-self rise from trauma and crisis of lacking intrinsicality in the contemporary western world.

What does it mean for a culture to include, or exclude, ancestors as active members? How do Indigenous cultures and traditions cast light on the role of ancestors? Those are the central questions in this article. It begins by offering a general account of the role of ancestors in Indigenous cultures and traditions. These general comments contextualize specific engagement with the work of the novelist and essayist Leslie Marmon Silko (a Laguna Pueblo author) and also with the philosopher Kyle Whyte (a Potawatomi author). Having acquired from Silko and Whyte a sense for the active, intergenerational role played by ancestors in Indigenous cultures, the article then addresses the place of ancestors in Euro-American cultures and traditions, noting that due to particular forms of Christianity and secularism, Euro-American scholars and popular culture more generally tend to discount the role of ancestors. Yet, the work of Silko and others lend sight to see traces of ancestors in Euro-American cultures. Finally, the article returns to the question: What difference might it make to include or exclude ancestors in Euro-American communities and democracy? The approach in this article is transdisciplinary, drawing from the fields of religious studies (specifically its subfield, philosophy of religion and ethics), Indigenous studies, anthropology, political theory, and literary criticism.

the now iconic São Paulo writer José Oswald de Souza Andrade, would embody its iconoclastic spirit when he soon after outlined his new cultural theory in his Cannibalist Manifesto of 1928, famously turning the traditionally demonized practice of cannibalism, found amongst Brazilian indigenous tribes, into a metaphor for cultural decolonization. In a bold subversion of Eurocentric cultural perspectives, Andrade would epitomize his vision of Brazilian culture through the maxim "Tupy, or not Tupy[;] that is the question", 3 directing a post-colonial nod to the indigenous Tupy people of Brazil that, in its debunking of literary hierarchies and of the boundaries between the notions of centre and periphery, simultaneously involved an audacious literary cannibalization of Shakespeare. Academia's fascination with how the arts engage with questions such as these, in which issues of order, control, and hierarchy, and how to subvert them are at stake, is reflected in the articles emerging from the 2015 LUCAS Graduate Conference presented here. These discussions are, more than ever, topical and urgent, as we seem to be entering times of increasing uncertainty, in a globalized yet fractured world. The arts are arguably all the more important now in helping us understand how to negotiate the rules, break them if necessary, and see where we are, and where we ought to be heading.

Globalization is a multidimensional
phenomenon that has reshaped all the
spheres of life and culture. This article
explores how language and media have been
treated in the cultural dimension of
globalization that has had a transforming
effect on the lives of the masses of a
marginalized group of Native Americans in
Alexie’s Flight that demonstrates the
cultural transformation of the Native
Americans under white discursive practices.
Manfred B. Steger’s theorization serves as a
basis for this study to find out how Native
Americans are culturally transformed under
the ever-increasing influence of
globalization. In this process, language has
lost its value at an official and cultural level.
Alexie’s Flight demonstrates the cultural
transformation in the Native Americans.
This text is about the white discursive
practices affecting Native American culture.

Sono svariate le persone che celebrano cerimonie native o fingono di essere connessi agli Indiani d'America, appropriandosi di una cultura che non gli appartiene e sfruttando un popolo che affascina un vasto pubblico. Il motivo di questi fake? Spesso per soldi, sia negli Stati Uniti, sia in Italia, sia in altri paesi. Facciamo un viaggio in una terra immaginaria e visitiamo questa strana tribù. Siamo nella tribù dei Wannabe (che vuol dire "vorrei essere", inteso come brutta copia): non-nativi americani che rivendicano l'eredità o la spiritualità indiana. Ne conoscerete senz’altro qualcuno.

Getting us to cities was supposed to be the final, necessary step in our assimilation, absorption, erasure, the completion of a five-hundred-year-old genocidal campaign. But the city made us new, and we made it ours. -Tommy Orange (8) Leslie Marmon Silko's 1991 novel Almanac of the Dead opens with Sterling, an exile from the Laguna Pueblo Reservation, who has just arrived in Tucson, Arizona. Tucson appears to be a quiet city with relatively empty streets. The majority of the downtown population is inside the air-conditioned buildings to escape the late July heat. Tucson's only "sign of life" is the activity outside the downtown blood-plasma donation center. Here, Sterling observes a few white men loading what appear to be ice chests full of blood into large vehicles. He quickly understands that the "run-down" people in the park outside the building must be there to sell their blood. The center represents a future Sterling hopes to avoid in Tucson: "That was the one thing he had never done and hoped never to have to do. Sell his own blood" (28). Sterling's initial encounter with the donation center forecasts a core, often overlooked struggle in the novel between Tucson's so-called "human debris" and the border city's expanding biomaterials industry. Written over a ten-year period spanning the 1980s before it was published in 1991, most critics have considered Almanac's moment of production alongside the quincentennial anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the New World. 1 However, Almanac can also be seen as a response to two historical transformations in the meaning and practice of dispossession in the decades preceding its publication. These include the urbanization of Indigenous peoples in the

This paper examines the intersection of pragmatics and intercultural communication by analyzing Moussa Konaté's novel, "La Malédiction du Lamantin." The study delves into how cultural contexts influence language usage and communication strategies, underlining the pivotal role of cultural norms in effective communication. Konaté's narrative provides a rich case study that manifests the tension between traditional African beliefs and modern investigative approaches, unveiling the intricacies and challenges inherent in intercultural communication. Through a meticulous analysis of speech acts, politeness strategies, and instances of pragmatic failure within the novel, the paper underscores the necessity of cultural competence and adaptability. These elements are crucial in mitigating misunderstandings and fostering mutual understanding across different cultural landscapes. By situating the narrative within a complex framework of cultural conflict and communication hurdles, the paper offers profound insights into the dynamics of intercultural interactions. The conclusion discusses broader implications for the field of pragmatics and intercultural communication, suggesting future research directions, particularly within the context of African literature. This analysis not only contributes to academic discourse but also provides practical implications for enhancing communication across diverse cultural settings.


Keywords: Pragmatics, Intercultural Communication, Cultural Norms, African Literature, Cultural Competence

In Flight (2007), Sherman Alexie takes a pristine approach to Native identity and the complexity of being Native in contemporary U.S. society. In this both highly praised and somewhat criticized novel, personal and social identities are closely linked to history and memory as well as to violence-past, present, and future. As an orphan of hybrid heritage, Zits, the teenage protagonist, is born into a culture that excludes him from participation. Through time traveling, he not only recounts and reflects on episodes in history through the lens of five male characters but is also launched on a spiritual journey. From this vantage point, Zits reflects on multi-temporal levels of the past and on conflicting identities-his own and those of others whose bodies he occupies. Instead of continuing to be victimized by the 'master' narrative, the protagonist becomes the master narrator of his own circular life story, and ultimately of a 'real', more unified self.

In Flight (2007), Sherman Alexie takes a pristine approach to Native identity and the complexity of being Native in contemporary U.S. society. In this both highly praised and somewhat criticized novel, personal and social identities are closely linked to history and memory as well as to violence – past, present, and future. As an orphan of hybrid heritage, Zits, the teenage protagonist, is born into a culture that excludes him from participation. Through time traveling, he not only recounts and reflects on episodes in history through the lens of five male characters but is also launched on a spiritual journey. From this vantage point, Zits reflects on multi-temporal levels of the past and on conflicting identities – his own and those of others whose bodies he occupies. Instead of continuing to be victimized by the ‘master’ narrative, the protagonist becomes the master narrator of his own circular life story, and ultimately of a ‘real’,

The adolescent main characters in the narratives we have read so far this semester have all been weighed down by intergenerational trauma: death, murder, and war; sexual violation and secrets; being used as a "poison container" by family members; slavery, racism, terrorism, and violence. Three novels in particular (Hurston, Baldwin, Diaz) have provided, by various means, perspectives on these historical traumas beyond the verbal grasp of the main SELF character in the NOW of the story. In three of our books-Baldwin, Bechdel, Diaz-a large focus is on the "sins of the fathers"-the traumatic events of previous generations that are bequeathed to the main character, who must cope with this legacy as they attempt to launch into adult life. These books offer speculative representations of the SELF's parents' inner life and history before the birth of the SELF character. This suggests that in order to enter into the existential predicament of a person, one must be privy not only to the person's conscious perspective but to the psychohistorical waters in which he or she is submerged. In other words, a full narrative portrait of an adolescent may require understanding not only of that person's articulated experience, but also his or her submerged experience of family, history, and culture in the wake of traumas that remain unspoken, unresolved, and hidden. Choice 1. In light of this preamble, write about your experience tracking the existential trauma of Oscar and other SELF characters in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Comment on your own historical and cultural adequacy to the book, and to what extent you felt your inadequacies were overcome or complicated by the book's fleshing out of cultural and historical reality. Finally, how did your perceived level of adequacy affect your ability to "get inside" the characters? Read at least one scholarly article about Oscar Wao and use it in your answer (links to several articles will be found in Blackboard Course Documents). Choice 2. In light of this preamble, write about the narrative strategy for presenting existential trauma in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Compare it to the narrative strategies of Oscar Wao or Go Tell It on the Mountain. If you were able to "get inside" the character of Junior, what facilitated this access in terms of the book's presentation? Read and use at least one scholarly article in your answer (links to several articles will be found in Blackboard Course Documents). Choice 3. Rewrite a traumatic scene from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian in the narrative style of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, or vice versa. Your scene will be evaluated in terms of its wit, profundity, and skill in evoking and commenting on both books.

The Search Engine is fundamentally a search for established
individuality, a vision in the wilderness, and the meaning and
definition of female protagonist Corliss. The present study
explores the ways through which Native American hybridized
identity survives in the white hegemonic cultural society. By
using the theory of Evolution which is conceived by Charles
Darwin, the research intends to highlight those characteristics of
Corliss which make her a favorable species among stagnant and
dormant tribal folks. Corliss’ survival strategy includes
navigating and challenging the systemic oppressions faced by
Indigenous communities in North America by getting rich white
education. The Search Engine advocates that conflicting identity
or in more apt terminology an identity that is hanging between
cultures can discover harmony and be conformed through
mutual respect, flexible attitude and acknowledgement at an
individual level. This research reinvestigate Corliss’ journey
which involves a progression from adopt to adapt to adept phase
and her search for a stable identity while living in a mainstream
society of Euro America. It deals with tussles and struggles of
Corliss as she evolves through life in survival mode, particularly
in regards to her experiences with her research of another
traumatized poet Harlan Atwater. The effort to become
recognized as a fully formed human being, as well as the desire
to be treated with decency and equality rather than as second class citizens is admirable. She fulfills the demands of anticolonialist ideological identity; hence there is suppression over
colonial subjects, subversion the colonialist discourse which
eventually leads toward fine tuning the postcolonial identity that
takes her to the desired status in the society unlike to her father
and uncles.

Confined within the borders of reservations Native identity suffers not only from the traumatic experiences of poverty, unemployment, broken families, alcoholism and oppression but also from systematic racist practices and stereotyping, which reduce the American Indian identity to noble savages, bloodthirsty warriors, prophetic shamans, or drunken outcasts. In resistance to Anglo-American attempts to erase Native identity many American Indian writers such as N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Louise Erdrich, James Welch, and Gerald Vizenor tried to preserve Native American tribal culture and history, and remedy the traumatized Native identity. This paper focuses on how Sherman Alexie in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, standing apart from other Native American writers, portrays the Spokane Indian reservation life with a critical and cynical viewpoint on contemporary Native American's problems such as poverty, unemployment, hunger, drug addiction, alcoholism, and violence. The paper also discusses the insight Alexie brings to the Native identity problem through his critical reading of both the Native history/tradition and the white culture, and his critique of both the 'positive' and the negative stereotyping of the American Indian. The study is based on the premise that Sherman Alexie creates, borrowing from Homi Bhabha's terms, an 'interstitial space' in his answer to the question: how will the Native identity be constructed, based on the American Indian tribal culture, or the dominant Anglo culture, or is there an alternative way?

The annual Mnemonics summer school brings together junior and senior scholars in the interdisciplinary field of memory studies, affording PhD students from around the world the opportunity to receive extensive feedback on their projects from distinguished memory experts and to catch up with the newest methodological and theoretical trends in memory studies. Each edition features three keynotes and 24 PhD student presentations followed by in-depth commentaries by senior scholars from partner institutions. Mnemonics is a unique platform for learning, mentoring, and networking specifically designed to meet the needs and interests of the next generation of memory scholars.

Dark humor is a form of comedy that explores taboo topics such as death, disease, and tragedy. While it is often controversial and can be offensive to some, it is also a means of coping with difficult or uncomfortable topics and offering a fresh perspective on societal norms. Just as stated by Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature, dark humor or black humor is a kind of humor that is marked by the use of morbid, ironic, or grotesquely comic episodes that ridicule human folly. However, this paper examines the concept of dark humor by tackling some of the significant poems of the English poet “Sherman Alexie” and the Iraqi poet “Ahmed Matar.” Those two poets discuss subjects and problems of real-life experiences. The purpose of this research is to shed light on Native Americans' daily lives on reservations and demonstrate their pain as well as the poet’s personal experience there, which is discussed by Sherman Alexie in his poems, “Futures”, “Traveling”, “Translated from the American”, “Giving Blood”, “War all the time”, “Reservation cap driver”, “The mice war”. While the Iraqi poet tended to criticize Arab rules, the lack of freedom they force, their use of torture, the government, and their persuasion of authority at all costs. Here are some of his notable poems that this research are going to explain and make critique in details. “They put a watchdog on my mouth", عوا
َ
"وَض
ف ي م كلبَ حِراسه"
َ
فوق , “My awful silence”, "ي الرهيب
صم ت ", “The lost Caravan”, "قافلة تائهة ". Ultimately, this paper aims to offer a fair viewpoint on the usage of dark humor and to stimulate additional investigation into its psychological and social significance. It can be hypothesized that Dark humor has been used heavenly by Ahmed Matar and Sherman Alexie in their poetry, and the researcher is going to show the importance of using humor is to attack the capitalist system, as in Sherman Alexie country, and the ruthless hegemonic government as in Ahmed Matar' country. It is used to show vulgarity of governments and to amuse the audience to certain extent.

As the world continues to move away from rural forms of living, so too do Native Americans struggle with this transition, both within the realm of literature and in the real world around us. The plight of modern Native Americans involves not only a transition from reservation to city, but also a struggle to be included in the defining forces of this country. Sherman Alexie's urban Indians clearly function in separate areas on the identity continuum, varying between total assimilation and complete culture preservation, which allows Alexie to make a statement about Native American identity in general as well as progressively shift the focus of his work over time. In Alexie's short story "Saint Junior," the main character, Roman Gabriel Fury, attempts to adjust his identity to that of the dominant culture by immersing himself in an urban setting through his involvement with an international basketball team, but he eventually fails and has no other option than to return to his home on the reservation. The story, "The Search Engine," depicts the life of Corliss Joseph, a young Indian woman who desires to fully adjust her identity so that it meshes with that of the dominant culture and is actively pursuing this goal through her involvement in higher education, often valuing the tenets of the dominant culture above those of her own heritage. In Alexie's story "War Dances," the unnamed protagonist exists as a mostly well-adjusted urban Indian who benefits from his involvement in both his Native culture and the dominant culture. This progression within Alexie's work demonstrates a more positive outlook of acceptance between the two cultures and acknowledges the necessity of a dualistic identity within such individuals. Korsmo 1

This paper aims to look at the social realistic issues in the context of Sherman Alexie’s literary works. Alexie is one of the postmodern authors in the United States of America. He is very popular among his Native American society as well as community for representing social reality of his age. This paper is divided into several sections; each section shows a benchmark of the 21st century Social Picture of the Native Americans in the light of Alexian Literary Works. It also scrutinizes stories, and novels with a view to highlighting a faithful picture of Native Americans in the light of everyday social issues, including poverty, alcoholism, unhealthiness, racism, and suicidal act. Basically, the main part of my paper deals with social problems of Native Americans in the United States of America as depicted in Alexie’s literary works. It highlights an awareness of the Native Americans so as to keep themselves aloof from drug addiction, poverty, depression, and psychological trauma. ...

The paper discusses the idea of origin, and the cinematic representation as a means of expression for specific cultural identity. Deriving its theoretical background from the understanding of cultural memory by Assman (1995, via Warburg, 1924 - 1929), and the concept of cultural identity as hybrid (Hall, 1998) the paper argues that the films Jánošík (1921), and Smoke Signals (1998) are examples of sovereign cinematic representations of respective cultural identities (Slovak, and Native American), and both construct cultural identity as hybrid, standing in between, or embracing multiple discourses. Through the depiction of their characters, and opening scenes the article examines the complexity of the film representations as they compromise or subvert existing stereotypes.

Sömürgeciliğin yüzyıllar boyunca bilim, popüler kültür ve ana akım sinemanın yardımıyla inşa ettiği “ortadan kaybolan Yerli” miti, Yerlilerin geçmişte kalmış veya zamanın dışında donmuş olduğu, medeni kültürlerle karşılaştığında ortadan kaybolmasının kaçınılmaz olduğu fikrine dayanır. Yerlileri yok etmeye yönelik sömürgeci şiddet ve bu şiddet karşısında geliştirilen mücadelenin küresel ortaklığına vurgu yapan bu çalışma, sömürgecilik tarihini ifşa eden, karşı anlatılar kuran Yerli sinemasını, yok olmaya direniş ve hayatta kalma eylemi olarak ele almaktadır. Yok olması istenen Yerli sembollerin ve ritüellerin perdeye yansıması, yasaklanan dillerin duyulması, resmî tarihin gizlediklerinin dile getirilmesi, bunu amaçlamasa bile Yerli sinemasını politik direnişin aygıtı haline getirir. Sinema tarihi boyunca beyazlar tarafından Yerliler “hakkında” yapılmış filmler Yerli halkları klişelere hapsetmiş, işgalciliği meşrulaştıran bir dil kurmuştur. Yerli halk “tarafından” ve Yerli halk “için” üretilen her film, Yerli halkın sömürgeci temsillerine açık ya da örtük meydan okuyarak yok olmaya yazgılı olduğu iddia edilen Yerlilerin direnişini ortaya koyar. Yerli sineması, nostaljik bir sömürgecilik öncesi geçmişe dönme arzusuna tutunmayı ya da topluluğu sadece kolektif bellekteki acılarla tanımlamayı değil çağdaş dünyada Yerli olarak var olmaya devam etmek için yeni bir dil kurmayı amaçlar. Çalışmada Smoke Signals’ın (Chris Eyre, 1998) ideolojik çözümlemesi yapılmış, popüler kültür ve ana akım sinemanın öğelerini yapıbozuma uğratan, günümüz toplumsal meseleleri ve onların kültürel mirası arasında bir diyalog yürüten, çağdaş dünyada Yerli varoluşunu yücelten Yerli sineması örneği olarak ele alınmıştır.

In this paper, places of trauma, physical locations that reflect the Celtic spiritual concept of "thin places," simultaneously represent real life events, possess symbolic meaning, and become places for active, engaged social activity related to memorialization. I explore how these places create a potential space for working through trauma, drawing on Judith Herman's fundamental stages of recovery which she articulates as "establishing safety, reconstructing the trauma story, and restoring the connection between survivors and their communities." 1 I argue that memorial museums attending to trauma can guide the process of working through suffering to growth and transformation, thus benefiting witnesses, survivors and family members, and employees who immerse themselves in the stories they memorialize in order to facilitate empathy and emotional availability to visitors of all types. This community commemorating communal trauma illustrates the Ricoeurean imperative-to remember, we need the other.

The article in question is based on the language analysis of the properties of English novel setting rendition in cinematic narration. Treating film adaptations of contemporary literary works suggests new research possibilities based on conveying verbal messages from various perspectives. The goal of the scientific research is to identify and analyze the linguistic means and figures of speech indicating key aspects of literary settings, the basis for the contrastive and comparative analysis of the literary and cinematic space being thus contoured. The study reveals language traits of the modifications the place of the action undergoes in modern English prose film adaptations.

The article in question is based on the language analysis of the properties of English novel setting rendition in cinematic narration. Treating film adaptations of contemporary literary works suggests new research possibilities based on conveying verbal messages from various perspectives. The goal of the scientific research is to identify and analyze the linguistic means and figures of speech indicating key aspects of literary settings, the basis for the contrastive and comparative analysis of the literary and cinematic space being thus contoured. The study reveals language traits of the modifications the place of the action undergoes in modern English prose film adaptations. DETALIEREA PARTICULARITĂȚILOR LOCULUI DE ACȚIUNE LITERARĂ IN  ADAPTĂRI CINEMATOGRAFICE ALE ROMANELOR ENGLEZE Prezentul articol se bazează pe analiza lingvistică a particularităților de redare a locului  acțiunii romanelor engleze in narațiunea cinematografică. Abordarea adaptării filmice a operelor literare con...

After connecting history to urban spatiality in Teju Cole's Open City, this paper develops Rob Nixon's articulation of "slow violence" to demonstrate how John Edgar Wideman and Sherman Alexie's novels depict issues of authenticity in storytelling, highlighting the limitations of representing the effects of "slow violence" on the cultural, physical, and economic welfare of marginalised communities in the aftermath of major violent events. In Teju Cole's novel Open City the narrator, Julius, is asked by a tourist how to get to 9/11. Or rather, the tourist actually requests the directions for ".. . not the site of the events of 9/11 but to 9/11 itself, the date petrified into broken stones" (Cole 52). In this line we read a city capable of embodying history through spatiality. Cole conveys a palimpsestic metropolitan structure that represents the recent past through omission as much as through inclusion, thus imbuing historical events with a physical presence. Open City's representation of New York after the attacks poses questions about how 'acute' historical moments are understood by the collective mainstream consciousness of contemporary America and,

This contribution aims to analyse the postmemory of the origins through the work of an Italian author of Armenian descent, Antonia Arslan, and stems from an ongoing research project about "Narrating the Trauma in European Literatures and Cultures" based at La Sapienza University of Rome. I will therefore focus on the link between this research project, which serves as a theoretical framework, and the specific case study concerning Antonia Arslan. The project originates from two concerns: the first one being the awareness of the loss of poets and writers' long-lived faith in the creative power of the artistic gesture, a widespread belief before the two world wars, and the second one consisting in a reflection on a general change of the theoretic framework of literature, especially in the case of the narration of traumatic experiences such as wars, genocides, migrations and displacements of people, which have taken place in Europe during the 20th Century [Neohelicon, 2004(1), Migratio et litterae].

In his capacity as poet, writer of novels and short stories and filmmaker, Sherman Alexie (b. 1966) has successfully bridged the cultural and social gap separating Native Americans from mainstream American society. With a combination of humor, wit, deep sensitivity, social satire and historical awareness, Alexie has effectively portrayed the contemporary plight of Native Americans isolated on reservations where many are doomed to live desperate lives on the distant periphery of American culture. The present study is an attempt to enhance appreciation of Alexie's novel Reservation Blues (1996) by examining a network of historical allusions appearing in the novel that lay bare the military, economic and social forces that undermined Native American culture, especially that of the Plateau Indians in the American Northwest, including that of Alexie's own tribe, the Spokanes. The study draws upon ideas from recent historical studies such as Heather Cox Richardson's Wounded Knee (2010) and Elliot West's The Last Indian War (2009) as well as sources used by Alexie himself in the writing of the novel.

The present article explores the literary means by which Pynchon’ Bleeding Edge (2013) approaches post-traumatic reactions to 9/11 at the personal and public levels. The post-traumatic reactions that LaCapra has defined as “acting out” and “working through” are explored in their aesthetic and ethical dimensions, mainly through the study of Pynchon’s construction of narrative anticipation and his use of the elegiac tradition. I conclude that the novel might suggest a realignment of postmodern predicaments in reconciliation with the modernist tradition as a means to work through social and aesthetic trauma. I also contend that Pynchon problematizes his typical luddite approach to the posthuman by means of an allegorical use of communication technologies as a site for ritual mourning.

Relationship with the environment is rooted in the epistemology of a community. The white worldview favors hierarchy of the chain of being. Environment being at the lowest rung deserves only one response from mankind: subjugation and destruction which entail white dominance for ecocide of the Native American environment. Alexies incorporation of Nature is not an escapist stance; it comes from the understanding that no venture into future is possible without understanding the past. The Native American epistemology is land based in which geography, events, myth and history cohere with mutually supporting brotherhood of humans and non-humans. Alexie is an environmental racist who believes that the Euroamericans are responsible for the breach of the Native American ecological balance. Dislocations of the Natives and the destruction of their environment meant the annihilation of their civilization. Alexies poetry imaginatively recovers the Native American relationship with the environmen...

The 2020 release of News of the World, adapted by Paul Greengrass, returns to the American cultural trope of white-Indian adoption to the big screen. These adoption narratives, in film and literature, offer the promise of healing, though the adoption more often benefits the white community and adoptive parents over the Indian community and child. While these texts may acknowledge the decline of a particular Indian tribe, they generally celebrate how the individuals and the community may be stronger by remembering what has been lost, through the new family connections. This essay examines this recent film in the context of this Hollywood and literary traditionlooking particularly at the novels The Bean Trees (1988) and Pigs in Heaven (1993) by Barbara Kingsolver and Indian Killer (1996) and Flight (2007) by Sherman Alexie.

The current paper examines the Native American people's identity, especially the main female character's cultural identity in the short story entitled The Search Engine. Sherman Alexie, the author of the story, is a Native American writer who harnesses the Indian identity as one of the main topics. The identity presented in the main character, Corliss, shows the challenges of the stereotypes of Native American girls. For that reason, the paper aims at exploring the new Indian woman’s cultural identity represented in the main character, Corliss, in the short story The Search Engine. The study applies feminist literary criticism that enables the writers to deeply explore the issue of woman's identity among the American native people. The main character, Corliss, shows the new female image identity, in which she can challenge traditional stereotypes of Native American women. Corliss is represented as a highly literate woman, with a lot of reading on English literary works, ...

In this paper, places of trauma, physical locations that reflect the Celtic spiritual concept of "thin places," simultaneously represent real life events, possess symbolic meaning, and become places for active, engaged social activity related to memorialization. I explore how these places create a potential space for working through trauma, drawing on Judith Herman's fundamental stages of recovery which she articulates as "establishing safety, reconstructing the trauma story, and restoring the connection between survivors and their communities." 1 I argue that memorial museums attending to trauma can guide the process of working through suffering to growth and transformation, thus benefiting witnesses, survivors and family members, and employees who immerse themselves in the stories they memorialize in order to facilitate empathy and emotional availability to visitors of all types. This community commemorating communal trauma illustrates the Ricoeurean imperative-to remember, we need the other.

This paper reviews two Anglo-American literature books about Native American people's lives in the United States. From a deep reading and analysis based on the novels of two authors, Sherman Alexie with his book "Indian Killer" and Louise Erdrich's book "The Round House", here follows a review and comparison of the most inner thoughts and senses the authors gave to the main characters in their novels. Two perspectives are provided by the authors, who are both Native Americans; Sherman's point of view is mainly related to hidden fear and mystery. Erdrich's novel is related to gender issues and untold violence. Here is a brief review and comparison of how violence is described, considering the social constraints towards the Native Americans.

This thesis examines ways in which Native Americans are portrayed in literature by analyzing two of Sherman Alexie's short stories This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona, and Because my Father Always Said he Was the only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock, as well as the movies Pocahontas (1995) and Smoke Signals (Alexie, 1998). The Native American/Indigenous methodology presented, provides insights into Native American culture that is necessary to see the nuances and layers of meaning in these narratives. The thesis discusses internalized colonization, Spivak's idea of the "Other", and DuBois' concept of a "double-consciousness" in relation to identity. Through my analysis it becomes evident that Pocahontas presents both a somewhat uniform and stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans, but also that it includes layers of depth to some of the characters. The thesis presents Alexie's narratives as ridden with dark humour, sarcasm and hyperboles which he has used to deconstruct the already existing stereotypes of Natives. In the analysis we see that they work as revisionist history by remembering the past. Throughout, the thesis presents opportunities, advice and it advocates teaching Native American literature in the English classroom. Chapter 5 addresses didactics, more specifically, teaching from a global and multicultural perspective. It covers interconnected aspects of teaching, in general, that are specifically relevant to teaching the narratives presented. These aspects are teaching humour, controversial topics, "the danger of a single story", short stories, and teaching movies as narratives. In sum, the thesis aims to reinscribe Native American literature in the English classroom. I would not have been able to write this thesis without the incredible support, help and advice that I have been so lucky to have gotten during this semester. First, I want to thank Professor Jennifer Wheat at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, it was because of her inspiring teaching that I chose to work with Native American literature and history. The most special thanks to Laura Castor, my English supervisor. Without her trust, faith and patience with me I would not have been able to write it. Her thoughts, advice and ideas were instrumental for me to come to the conclusions I have reached. I also want to thank my didactical supervisor, Ingrid Jakobsen, for her help, advice and supportive comments, the process relied on you as well. I am especially lucky to have had an outstanding personal motivator, supporter, and fan throughout this process, namely my boyfriend Thomas Maeland. I want to thank all of my friends for the, most needed, laughs, patience, smiles and encouragements that you have given me during this time. It is not always easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but you always made it possible. My mother and father deserve thanks because they always push me to do better, to be greater, and to always be at my best. Lastly, I want to thank all of my costudents as well, your help, our discussions and our lunch breaks have been invaluable to me. All of you are in this thesis, somewhere, in-between the lines.

Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road (2005) and Gerald Vizenor's Blue Ravens (2014) offer literary representations of the Great War combined with life narratives focusing on the personal experiences of Indigenous soldiers. The protagonists' lives on the reservations, which illustrate the experiences of racial discrimination and draw attention to power struggles against the White dominance, provide a representation of and a response to the experiences of Indigenous peoples in North America. The context of World War I and the Aboriginal contributions to American and Canadian wartime responses on European battlefields are used in the novels to take issue with the historically relevant changes. The research focus of this paper is to discuss two strategies of survival presented in Boyden's and Vizenor's novels, which enable the protagonists to process, understand, and overcome the trauma of war.

Reservation in Washington. A bookish child, Alexie was educated off the reservation, first at a small German immigrant high school in Reardon, then at a Jesuit university in Spokane (Alexie describes himself as "Spokane Indian Catholic") before transferring to Washington State University and majoring in American Studies. There he took a poetry class and was given an anthology of contemporary Native American poetry called Songs From This Earth on Turtle's Back. Alexie describes the profound importance of the discovery: "I opened it up and-oh my gosh-I saw my life in poems and stories for the very first time." 1 After the enormous critical acclaim showered on his first book of poems, The Business of Fancydancing, Alexie was approached by New York literary agents who wanted to know if he had a fiction manuscript. Alexie obliged with The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, twenty-two linked stories which he had begun while still in college. Alexie says: "I've always been picky about heroes. Like most American males, I've always admired athletes, particularly basketball players. I admired Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar not only for their athletic abilities, but for who they seemed to be off the court. They seemed to be spiritual, compassionate, and gracious people. Neither has done nor said anything over the years to contradict my image of them. Unlike many American males, I always admired writers as much as I admired athletes. I loved books and the people who wrote books. John Steinbeck was one of my earliest heroes because he wrote about the poor. Stephen King became a hero because he wrote so well of misfit kids, the nerds and geeks. Growing up on my reservation, I was a poor geek, so I had obvious reasons to love Steinbeck and King. I still love their novels, but I have no idea if they were/are spiritual, compassionate, and gracious men. There is so much spirit, compassion, and grace in their work, I want to assume that Steinbeck and King were/are good people. I would be terribly disappointed to find out otherwise.. .. Most of my heroes are just decent people. Decency is rare and underrated. I think my writing is somehow just about decency. Still, if I was keeping score, and I like to keep score, I would say the villains in the world are way ahead of the heroes. I hope my writing can help even the score." The Work From the opening story and its description of the emotional storms that wrack the reservation-brothers fighting, memories of hunger and humiliation, the smell of "Alcohol and sweat. Cigarettes and failure"-to the book's final image of a father crying

Milwaukee where he teaches linguistic anthropology, American Indian studies, and global studies. His ongoing research focuses on language revitalization in Indigenous communities. He is actively coordinating collaborative projects with colleagues from other disciplines and local American Indian communities to promote language revitalization in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.

As the world continues to move away from rural forms of living, so too do Native Americans struggle with this transition, both within the realm of literature and in the real world around us. The plight of modern Native Americans involves not only a transition from reservation to city, but also a struggle to be included in the defining forces of this country. Sherman Alexie's urban Indians clearly function in separate areas on the identity continuum, varying between total assimilation and complete culture preservation, which allows Alexie to make a statement about Native American identity in general as well as progressively shift the focus of his work over time. In Alexie's short story "Saint Junior," the main character, Roman Gabriel Fury, attempts to adjust his identity to that of the dominant culture by immersing himself in an urban setting through his involvement with an international basketball team, but he eventually fails and has no other option than to return to his home on the reservation. The story, "The Search Engine," depicts the life of Corliss Joseph, a young Indian woman who desires to fully adjust her identity so that it meshes with that of the dominant culture and is actively pursuing this goal through her involvement in higher education, often valuing the tenets of the dominant culture above those of her own heritage. In Alexie's story "War Dances," the unnamed protagonist exists as a mostly well-adjusted urban Indian who benefits from his involvement in both his Native culture and the dominant culture. This progression within Alexie's work demonstrates a more positive outlook of acceptance between the two cultures and acknowledges the necessity of a dualistic identity within such individuals. Korsmo 1

This paper focuses on 'Vandals' by Canadian short story writer Alice Munro (Open Secrets, 1994). The story explores the complex relationship between abuse (here, the sexual abuse of children), silence and self-deception. This paper aims to read 'Vandals' as a trauma narrative which internalises the rhythms, processes and uncertainties of traumatic experience within its very structure (Vickroy, 2002). The paper will consider Munro's narrative and stylistic choices to represent the unrepresentable and the impact of traumatic memory. I will also consider how Munro addresses the issue of survival, showing that as she denies closure, and provokes "emphatic unsettlement' (LaCapra), Munro exposes the silencing force of trauma and unhealed wounds in order to call on her readers to break the compact of silence.

This paper aims to show the representation of Native Americans in Sherman Alexie's short story The Trial of Thomas-Builds-the-Fire, which is part of his story collections The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993). The main character, Thomas-Builds-the-Fire, represents native Americans. This paper will analyze Thomas as a subaltern who was oppressed by white hegemony. The presence of fairy tales as media voicing out Thomas' thoughts and feeling as the subaltern interprets something deeper. The present writer will use Gayatri C. Spivak's theories which are subaltern and representation, to analyze the forms of Native American representation. The result shows there are two forms of representation used in the story. They are "to represent," meaning "the idea of representing something," and "re-present," meaning "the idea of bringing back." However, both forms of representation stated in the story failed to make the subaltern ...