Graduation Semester and Year

2012

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in English

Department

English

First Advisor

Kenneth M. Roemer

Abstract

Humor in American Indian literature is a popular and important area of study. Yet, to date few full-length studies have compared the role of humor in Gerald Vizenor, Thomas King, and Sherman Alexie. This study offers a comparison of the ways three of the best-known American Indian humorists use humor to talk about contemporary Native American experience. The dissertation explores the way humor--especially trickster humor--is used to re-imagine the Indian stereotype. The dissertation asserts, first, that American Indian stereotypes are created through American, utopian impulses and that the stereotypes are then distributed by colonialism to make both North American identity and North American history sacred; second, that humor and trickster disrupt audience expectations and provide useful tools for undermining the effectiveness of the stereotype; third, that Vizenor, King, and Alexie are all using humor to challenge the creation and distribution of the Indian stereotype, offering ways to view identity that do not rely on the stereotype; and fourth, that these challenges take different approaches and show the dexterity of humor. The study asks scholars to re-evaluate the seriousness of humor by considering the way authors are using it to re-claim Native identity. Because of this, "Indi'n humor" and trickster humor are suitable theoretical frameworks for the dissertation since they provide ways to evaluate the cultural functions of humor. Chapter two will outline these terms and the functions of humor in tribal communities. Chapter three focuses on Gerald Vizenor, and his use of satire to condemn multi-cultural, academic discourse practices that stereotype American Indians. Chapter four discusses Thomas King, and his use of humor to rewrite Western, textual authority that "others" Native people. Using humor, King refuses the colonial gaze these texts assert. Chapter five addresses Sherman Alexie, making the case that scholars need to understand the ironic ways he uses the stereotype throughout his fiction. Chapter five explores the way Alexie confronts the internalization of the stereotype through both American cultural presentations about the West and assimilation practices that distance Native people from their tribal communities.

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | English Language and Literature

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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