Native American Humor and Its Reflections in the Work of Sherman Alexie

92 Pages·2010·0.42 MB·English

Masaryk University
Faculty of Arts

Department of English
and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Martin Stehlík

Native American Humor and Its
Reflections in the Work of Sherman
Alexie

Master’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Jeffrey A. Vanderziel, B.A.

2010
I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently,
using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

……………………………………………..
Author’s signature
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Acknowledgements:

I would like to thank Jeff Vanderziel and Mgr. Klára Kolinská, M.A., Ph.D. for their valuable help
and support
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Table of Contents

1. Introduction ...................................................................................... 1
2. Native American Humor .................................................................... 5
Can Humor Be “Serious Art”? .............................................................. 5
Where Does the “Stoic Indian” Stereotype Come From? ....................... 8
Humor As Spiritual and Communal Tradition ....................................... 12
Humor As a Weapon Against Victimization ..........................................14
Can White People Understand? .......................................................... 17
3. Basic Concepts, Features And Aspects of Indian Humor ................ 26
Duality ............................................................................................ 26
Tricksters – Old Man Coyote And Others ............................................30
Teasing, Razzing, Shame Stories – A Critical Insight into the Native
Community Humor ............................................................................... 38
4. Textual Analysis Of Sherman Alexie’s Short Stories and Other
Prosaic Works ...................................................................................... 44
Sherman Alexie’s Background And His Position In Contemporary
American Literature And Society ............................................................ 44
A Drug Called Indianness ..................................................................50
Violence Versus Humor .....................................................................56
Demon of Alcohol – Demon of Laughter .............................................62
Coyote Aesthetics and Extreme Duality – Where Humor Meets Despair in
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian .....................................67
5. Conclusion ....................................................................................... 81

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Abstract ...........................................................................................83
Résumé ............................................................................................84
Works Cited ......................................................................................86

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1. Introduction
Native American culture has developed throughout centuries of dramatic
historical and social change into a distinctive form incomparable to anything
similar worldwide. After a long period of oral tradition, its written literature
began first as transcriptions of interviews with significant persons of Indian life
translated, written down and often changed by various anthropologists,
journalists, or collectors of shattered pieces of the oral legacy among the
indigenous peoples. These changes were made for various reasons. One of
them was the inability to understand and accurately translate into English the
symbolism and imagery in the words of Indian chiefs, shamans, holy men or
warriors. Another possible reason to transform and edit the original notes or
recordings was to make those stories more acceptable, attractive and even
marketable to the white audience. Today we may only speculate whether also
various political interests were present in the minds of the first editors and
publishers of those first written accounts of the Native American life.
One step toward an original Indian writing was accepting English as a
universal means of communication. Even though this process was neither a
peaceful nor a voluntary one, this inevitable consequence of the post-colonial
development of the North American continent meant that the Euroamerican and
native cultures could begin their mutual cultural challenge and confrontation.
For the cultural audience, the word Indian and its linguistic variations
evoke a feeling of many romantic connotations. The Wild West mythology
(more than reality) created an ideological base for European version of the
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Scout movement, as well as the Czech national phenomenon of “tramping”
movement in the first decades of the twentieth century.
In Europe, the interest in the Indian myth was undoubtedly intensified by
the immense popularity of books by Karl May, a German writer of adventure
fiction. Later made into films, those stories showed a highly romanticized vision
of the Wild West conquest, with Winnetou and Old Shatterhand as central
figures representing the stoic Indian and a white prospector stereotypes. Not
very much different from their American fictional counterparts, Tonto and The
Lone Ranger, those heroes played a vital role in shaping a widely accepted,
though in many ways false insight into the white-Indian struggle, as seen from
the majority point of view. In the European case, this happened without any
possibility to confront the fiction with reality. May was not the only writer who,
fascinated by the romanticism of the Wild West, helped create the false myth of
the Native American life. His predecessor in the United States was James
Fenimoore Cooper who inspired other American writers at the turn of the
century and later to write works of western fiction, such as Owen Wister and
Louis L’Amour.
This all leads to an interesting paradox: although many people may claim
that they are well acquainted with the Indian history and present situation, not
all of them will be able to tell the difference between the image they want to
believe in, and the reality. Furthermore, only a very limited number of people
will go beyond the works of popular culture as an “educational means” and find
their way to more realistic sources, either historical or offered by quality
culture. Lastly, I dare say that the will and possibility to read Native American
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authors and thus acquire a realistic image from the inside of their culture
among the European audience except the scholars and enthusiasts is almost
equal to none.
I am deeply convinced that the American Indian nations have lived
through and been a forming element of such a significant - though extremely
dramatic and sad - historical period in the post-colonial world that their stories
deserve to be revealed in their pure and true form. Apart from the efforts of
social sciences to map and describe this part of human history, also literature
and other art forms must find their way to reflect the Indian world.
Since the Indian and Euro-American white majority communities are still
trying to define their mutual relationship in modern-day America, and for the
general public worldwide the Native American issues are an attractive topic still
to be discussed, there is definitely a large potential audience for authors writing
from, and being a part of the Indian background.
For the purpose of my thesis I have chosen to analyze Native American
humor, a phenomenon contradicting the widely accepted “stoic warrior” image,
and still one of the most crucial and defining aspects of the Indian oral, as well
as written literary tradition. I am going to challenge the false myths of Indian
stoicism and explore possible reasons why humor is a natural element in the
spiritual as well as communal life of the Native American population. Another
issue discussed in my thesis will be the possible chance to comprehend the
subtle nuances of the Indian humor by listeners and readers from the
mainstream white-dominated culture. To provide a conceptual and historical
analysis of the Native American humor I have chosen to trace the roots of
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various representations of the Trickster, a crucial creation myth figure.
Furthermore, I am going to analyze the element of duality as a characteristic
feature of the Indian humorous discourses.
To demonstrate my findings on a particular example, I have aimed at the
writing style of Sherman Alexie, the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene author, with
particular focus on his short story works in the second part of my thesis. Apart
from providing examples of the various shades of humorous expression
described in the theoretical part, I am going to point out some of the
problematic social issues which both the reservation and urban Indians in
contemporary America have to face, such as alcoholism, poverty, violence,
family disintegration, and search for identity.
I believe that humor can serve as a good communicator allowing the
Indian and white American cultures better mutual understanding, helping them
to bridge their cultural gaps, and partly redress the historical injustice the
Indians have suffered. I also hope that this analysis can bring some fresh views
on the Native American writing and thinking, and motivate the readers even
from different backgrounds and cultures to acquaint themselves with Indian
authors.

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2. Native American Humor
Can Humor Be “Serious Art”?
Humor plays undoubtedly a crucial role in defining cultural and social
boundaries as well as divisions. I believe it is vital to have a closer look at the
role of this often undervalued expression means in the works of art, as well as
to find out what position humor holds in the studies of psychology, sociology
and literature, and thus explain the seemingly contradicting title of this chapter.
In her essay, Guisela M. Latorre assumes that the power in humor of
minority cultures, with the main emphasis on the Chicano and Native American
ones, can be both regenerative and transgressive. She claims that the
humorous aesthetics of the contemporary art emerging from these cultures
bears a serious message, stating that “the use of humor, wit, irony and satire in
the work by these artists function in both cases as strategies of cultural survival
as well as a means to expose racial, social and gender hierarchies in U.S.
dominant culture” (2).
Nevertheless, humor is usually viewed as a means of popular expression,
rather than a serious artistic feature. This is so probably because of a
stereotypical opinion that if we watch a comedy it must function as a lower
form of entertainment providing us with quick release from everyday stress.
Latorre observes that “in Western culture we often find a general attitude that
associates humor with popular culture and the intellect with “high culture” (3).
Yet, art historians have already seriously explored its functions and roles.
Wendy Wick Reaves expressed a view that “art historians often have a snobbish
distrust toward humor because of the belief that art ought to be taken
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