Post #5

I'm doubling up on posts this week, since I haven't written in a couple of weeks.

This week’s reading for Almanac of the Dead continued to focus on the Mexican characters Menardo, his wife Iliana, his lover and later wife (after Iliana’s death) Alegría, and the revolutionary Bartolomeo. I found the fictionalized account of the Marxist revolution in Cuba that took place in this section of the book to be particularly engaging. On a stylistic note, I thought it was interesting how after it was noted that villagers were calling Bartolomeo’s lover Angelita “Comrade la Escapía” (309) the narrator began referring to her by that title as well, almost as if that public sentiment shaped her identity on a fundamental level. On a broader level, it seems that Silko is using the idea of Marxist revolution in the Americas as a parallel to the idea or goal of total reclamation of Indian tribal lands. Just as in Marxist theory the eventual uprising of the proletariat against those who control the means of production is inevitable, Silko seems to be saying that an Indian uprising is inevitable. However, she undercuts this message by saying that “irreparable harm had been done by the immense crimes of [Marx’s] followers, Stalin and Mao.” She is drawing the parallel between both the positive theory of Marxism, as well as the negative aspects that come out in practice. She seems to be arguing, via this fictional account, that revolution, no matter the gain, is not worth it if one allows “some human beings to starve while others ate, especially not one’s own brothers and sisters” (316).

Post #4

Of the books that we have read so far in this class, I feel that A Yellow Raft in Blue Water is my favorite so far. While Smoke Dancing skipped between points of view on a chapter-by-chapter basis and Almanac of the Dead skips between characters and time periods every few pages (it seems), A Yellow Raft in Blue Water is by far the most accessible to me. Though each of the three major sections does follow a different character, while following a linear regression in time, it is still significantly easier to follow than the other two books. After reading these three books it is clear now that discontinuity of both time and character is characteristic of American Indian literature. The issue of time makes sense, given the Indian construction of time. (Although I should make an aside here to say that I am still not entirely clear how the concept of time is constructed in an Indian cultural setting. I know it’s not exactly a linear construction, but I am not sure whether it is conceived of as cyclical, just a big wobbly ball of time, or something else entirely.) I don’t, however, understand the cultural precedent for jumping between characters as opposed to following one main character. Does it perhaps relate to the Indian tradition of transmitting history through oral storytelling? When telling a story orally, does the storyteller traditionally impersonate the characters in the story, or am I completely off-track with that hypothesis? To return to A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, I actually particularly enjoy the way it’s constructed, beginning with Rayona’s story, then following the story back to her mother Christine, and her grandmother Ida. Even though it is not linear in a forward-progressing direction, the fact that it’s linear at all makes it easier to follow.

Post for the week of the 2nd

One of the major incidences in this portion of Smoke Dancing was Fiction's “coming out” (so to speak) at the feast, at which she exposed the abuses inflicted upon her by her father. Moreover, she had prepared the dress with the purple beaded and embroidered roses signifying her physical wounds specifically for this occasion. I enjoyed this section of the book for a variety of reasons, but for this post I would like to focus on a single factor: Fiction's hand-sewn dress.

The main reason why this section stood out for me was because of the dress. Though I personally am not a particularly fashionable individual, I really appreciate the power and various social implications that clothing can connote. This is amplified by the fact that Fiction's dress was a traditional garment in an era when many cultural traditions (not just American Indians, but traditions for distinct cultural groups across the world) tend to be waning--traditional modes of dress not withstanding. This idea of tradition is increased even more by the fact that the rose pattern was one of Ruby's (a tribal elder) patterns. What I found tremendously interesting, however, was how Fiction blended these ancient cultural traditions with a modern twist: she incorporated the metallic spike studs from a modern leather jacket into her dress as the thorns of the roses. This simple action created an interesting dichotomy between the old and the new, the beautiful and the intimidating, and the feminine and the masculine. Because of the intense and dramatic impact that this dress made on her audience, Fiction was able to tell her equally intense and dramatic story without being silenced.

Post # 2

Though the initial post “prompt” encouraged discussion of Smoke Dancing, I would like to make some comments on last week’s Almanac of the Dead reading instead. The first chapter of last week’s reading from Almanac of the Dead was entitled “Famous Criminals.” The two criminals in question are Geronimo and John Dillinger: the subjects of Sterling’s two favorite “Yesteryear” articles from the Police Gazette.

It is interesting to note that the reason that these are his two favorite articles are because they are the two that focus most strongly on Tucson. It is interesting to look into what this may reveal about Sterling’s character. This indicates that Sterling seems to relate most closely to a geographical location (that is, Tucson) than to any other characteristic about an individual. This makes sense, given how closely Indians generally tie cultural and personal identity to land and geography. Another important similarity between Dillinger and Geronimo is race. Geronimo was Apache, whereas Dillinger had no Indian background, but his girlfriend, "Billie" Frechette, whom Sterling mentions on page 78, was of Menomonie descent. This indicates that after land and location, skin color—or at least acceptance of Indians by non-Indians—is important to Sterling. The last important similarity, indicated boldly by the chapter title, is that they were both criminals (at least in the eyes of the United States government). Geronimo was a leader in the Apache Wars; he fought against Union and Confederate attempts at expansion into the Southwest. Dillinger, on the other hand, was a bank robber, but was considered by some in his day (and today) to be something of a Robin Hood figure. History looks on both of these men in a fairly favorable light, relatively speaking, and their exploits are often glamorized. This seems to indicate to me that Sterling identifies with the misunderstood hero figures of the past.

A final interesting thing to note is that Dillinger was born in 1903, within a few years of Geronimo’s death in 1900. Together, they almost symbolize a transformation from the “freedom fighters” of the past to those of the modern era. It begs the question as to how, if at all, this tradition will be continued via the characters in Almanac of the Dead.