Literature, like most other things in the United States, has its fair share of contributors from a cross section of ethnic backgrounds. From authors to readers, there have always been patrons and enthusiasts of literature of all hues in the US. Ever since European discovery of the ‘New World,’ waves of immigrants from different parts of the world have been moving into this country. Most of them merely don’t merge into the melting pot that is the United States, but also add to its richness with some of their distinctive characteristics and contributions. Literary art forms, that involve storytelling, are one of their many contributions to the cultural mosaic of this country.
One of the areas where an individual’s ethnicity gets truly reflected is while narrating a story. In addition to getting cues from his immediate environment a writer also looks for ideas from the particular sub-culture by going into his heritage. In a heterogeneous society as the one in the US, writers belonging to myriad sub-cultures have been producing not just nationally acclaimed but also internationally appreciated literary work. Many have left lasting memories with their distinctive prose while others ignited debates and raised questions.
The Toughest Indian in the World – Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie, a Native American author, is highly acclaimed for his works and has received the PEN/Hemingway Award for Best Fiction (“The Toughest Indian in the World” IIP Digital. 06 Feb. 2009. Web. 12 Nov 2010). “The Toughest Indian in the World” is the writer’s short story collection which offers a background into his mind. From the excerpts it is quite clear that the emphasis of his narrative is inclined toward ethnic identity and how it conditions his behavior towards white people among others.
Alexie takes us back to the late seventies when he was travelling with his father who was driving. If they saw a hitchhiker up ahead in the distance, and if his father said, “Indian” the hitchhiker would invariably turn out to be Native American! He marveled at his father’s ability to get it right every time and goes on to add that if the “distant figure happened to be white;” his “father would drive by without comment.” And then he makes his point – “That was how I learned to be silent in the presence of white people.”
Alexie explains that this silence was not “about hate, or pain or fear. Indians just like to believe that white people will vanish, perhaps explode into smoke, if they are ignored enough times.” As if by implication, he seems to be referring to the sheer helplessness of the situation the Native American finds himself in after the storm has subsided. It is almost like a bad dream which you want to avoid, although you know that dreams die hard. There’s no rhetoric here; just plain articulation of what a Native American mind resembles.
Gerald Early analyses where Afro-American literature is headed
There is an undercurrent of unease among traditional and elite Afro-American authors and litterateurs about where contemporary Afro-American literature is headed. Early cites the unease of Nick Chiles, a highly respected Afro-American author, who severely criticized contemporary black literature in a New York Times opinion piece titled, “Their Eyes Were Reading Smut” (Early, Gerald. “What is African-American Literature?” 05 Feb. 2009 IIP Digital Web. 12Nov.12). In the column, Chiles targeted the “publishing industry, young black women readers and the current state of African-American writing” for creating an undesirable perception about African-American literature that reflected an overdose of sex and violence in an urban environment.
It scandalized Chiles to see what passed for African-American literature – the covers of these novels displayed “all forms of brown flesh, usually half-naked and in some erotic pose, often accompanied by guns and other forms of criminal life” (Early, Gerald. 05 Feb. 2009). These novels had titles like “Gutter, Crack Head, A Hustler’s Son” etc. which Chiles found unacceptable in terms of their economic scale as it could lead to the formation of a lop-sided and erroneous perception of black America. He also doesn’t agree with the generic branding of such literature as “Urban or Hip-Hop Fiction” (Early, Gerald. 05 Feb. 2009).
Reflecting the concern showed by Chiles, Early argues that despite their claim of portraying realism, these novels are pulp fiction at best. They are fulfilling a market driven demand as publishing of African-American literature has been gradually slipping out of the hands of the elites of the community who were conscious about morality and ethics as long as they held the leash. Despite the poor taste and quality they reflect the pulp fiction produced by writers like Ronald Quincy, Joy King, and Vickie Stringer among others, do convey “the complicated roots of African-American literature and of the construction of the African-American audience” (Early, Gerald. 05 Feb. 2009).
One of the areas where an individual’s ethnicity gets truly reflected is while narrating a story. In addition to getting cues from his immediate environment a writer also looks for ideas from the particular sub-culture by going into his heritage. In a heterogeneous society as the one in the US, writers belonging to myriad sub-cultures have been producing not just nationally acclaimed but also internationally appreciated literary work. Many have left lasting memories with their distinctive prose while others ignited debates and raised questions.
The Toughest Indian in the World – Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie, a Native American author, is highly acclaimed for his works and has received the PEN/Hemingway Award for Best Fiction (“The Toughest Indian in the World” IIP Digital. 06 Feb. 2009. Web. 12 Nov 2010). “The Toughest Indian in the World” is the writer’s short story collection which offers a background into his mind. From the excerpts it is quite clear that the emphasis of his narrative is inclined toward ethnic identity and how it conditions his behavior towards white people among others.
Alexie explains that this silence was not “about hate, or pain or fear. Indians just like to believe that white people will vanish, perhaps explode into smoke, if they are ignored enough times.” As if by implication, he seems to be referring to the sheer helplessness of the situation the Native American finds himself in after the storm has subsided. It is almost like a bad dream which you want to avoid, although you know that dreams die hard. There’s no rhetoric here; just plain articulation of what a Native American mind resembles.
Gerald Early analyses where Afro-American literature is headed
There is an undercurrent of unease among traditional and elite Afro-American authors and litterateurs about where contemporary Afro-American literature is headed. Early cites the unease of Nick Chiles, a highly respected Afro-American author, who severely criticized contemporary black literature in a New York Times opinion piece titled, “Their Eyes Were Reading Smut” (Early, Gerald. “What is African-American Literature?” 05 Feb. 2009 IIP Digital Web. 12Nov.12). In the column, Chiles targeted the “publishing industry, young black women readers and the current state of African-American writing” for creating an undesirable perception about African-American literature that reflected an overdose of sex and violence in an urban environment.
It scandalized Chiles to see what passed for African-American literature – the covers of these novels displayed “all forms of brown flesh, usually half-naked and in some erotic pose, often accompanied by guns and other forms of criminal life” (Early, Gerald. 05 Feb. 2009). These novels had titles like “Gutter, Crack Head, A Hustler’s Son” etc. which Chiles found unacceptable in terms of their economic scale as it could lead to the formation of a lop-sided and erroneous perception of black America. He also doesn’t agree with the generic branding of such literature as “Urban or Hip-Hop Fiction” (Early, Gerald. 05 Feb. 2009).
Reflecting the concern showed by Chiles, Early argues that despite their claim of portraying realism, these novels are pulp fiction at best. They are fulfilling a market driven demand as publishing of African-American literature has been gradually slipping out of the hands of the elites of the community who were conscious about morality and ethics as long as they held the leash. Despite the poor taste and quality they reflect the pulp fiction produced by writers like Ronald Quincy, Joy King, and Vickie Stringer among others, do convey “the complicated roots of African-American literature and of the construction of the African-American audience” (Early, Gerald. 05 Feb. 2009).
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments using using abusive language would be deleted