Goebel
rounds out the book with Sherman Alexie’s collection of poetry entitled, The Business of Fancydancing. Alexie appears to be the premiere Native
author writing today. No matter where I
go in this country, when I mention that I live and teach on a reservation, at
least one person asks if I have read any of his work. Embarrassingly, I have not prior to this
study, but he is on my ‘wish list’ on amazon.
Alexie’s
work would be a perfect read for students of any culture because, “…the book
continually challenges stereotypes, both malevolent and benign, and complicates
simple perspectives of Native peoples” (p. 143). In some brief follow-up research after this
chapter, I found that Alexie balances his work between traditional stories and
contemporary issues. He writes about
what it is like growing up on a reservation in today’s world which many Native
children can relate to. But teens of all
cultures can understand the struggles of freedom, impending life choices, and
dedication to family. One doesn’t have
to grow up on a reservation to relate to the characters in Alexie’s poems and stories.
To wrap up
his study on how to teach Native American literature, Goebel provides a glaring
look into how we view multicultural texts in our current educational system:
“When we
speak of Shakespeare or Hemingway, there is an implicit recognition of craft, or the artistry of the writer. When we look at multicultural literature
however, we often focus on issues of
ethnicity to the exclusion of aesthetics.
Such an approach carries the hidden
curricular message that, while worth of anthropological study, Native American literature is not really art.”
(p. 143)
Maybe I’m an idealist, a dreamer, a revolutionary, but I
really hope that someday we can look at literature from all the cultural groups
that have influenced our current society and read them as American literature
and not separate them by cultural parameters.
All
students should receive well rounded instruction in literature. For groups that have been historically
marginalized, it is vital that their literature is taught on par with
literature with the culture of power. We
can’t make up for centuries of atrocities, but literature is a fine place to
start.
His books are amazing!!! read them. I admit I have not read most of them but they are really written where a student can relate to them and even though they are written to be funny, it tells his story.
ReplyDeleteI think that children, especially native children should be given opportunities to seek out different pieces of literature.
I love Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (I think that's right!). I had a group of students read it for literature circles last year and they really enjoyed it. Your book makes a great point about viewing classics as works of art, and other literature in relation to the issues they deal with. I hadn't thought about it in those terms, but it seems to be spot on. We definitely need to change that way of thinking amongst ourselves, and pass a new way of thinking on to our students.
ReplyDeleteI read that bok and it is authentic and meaningful. I actually have it in my class library and so far I had 3 students read it and they enjoyed it because they feel they made a connection with reservation life. It really is sometimes difficult to see if there would be relevancy in literatures with Native life and I learn that reading on the author is best and readin book yourself. Very good book overall.
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