One’s identity drifts in a capricious reality in which even the
most commonly held assumptions are questionable. One ‘is’
literally, but one is nowhere; one wanders dazed in a ghetto
maze, a ‘displaced person’ of American democracy’ (Ralph
Ellison).
Ralph Ellison’s critique of American democracy can be
extended to any number of texts on this module, across racial,
social and cultural boundaries. Discuss, with reference to ( Little by Treuer and House Made of Dawn by Momaday) , taking into account
the importance of history as a defining factor in the creation of
American identities.
The essay will address the following aspects:
- An examination of Momaday's House and Treuer's Little that focusses on both authors' consideration of twentieth century indigenous presences within the United States.
- How identities - and definitions of identity - are created, shaped, disrupted and/or crucial.
- A study of the ways in which Treuer and Momaday's characters are simultaneously citizens of two nations –
- Considering the racial, social, and cultural boundaries that come to light as a result of both sets of characters feeling ghettoized and marginalized even though they are indigenous, reside on sovereign territory, play major roles in American history (logging, defend the nation during WWII and Vietnam).
- The ways in which identities are both fractured and pieced together in both novels
- U.S. notions of selfhood, democracy, and freedom through a study of these novels' focus on collectivity, community, recovery, and new voices.
- In what senses of American Indian future - and therefore what American future - these authors imagine.
The literary approach: close-comparative reading of both texts, informed by historical context OR historical criticism approach.