Just in case anyone still checks this blog: I was perusing the local theatre company websites when I saw that the Alliance Theatre will perform Mulan from Feb 24 through March 21 2010. And yes, the adaptation is based on the Disney version. Frank Chin eat your heart out...
Here's the link in case anyone is interested:
http://alliancetheatre.org/performance.aspx?id=5444
It gives the following information:
"Mulan
Rosemary Newcott, The Sally G. Tomlinson Artistic Director of Theatre for Youth, once again demonstrates her talent for understanding the rhythms and energy of Disney classics by staging Mulan in the theatrically inventive style of Aladdin and Seussical the Musical. Based on the 1998 Disney film “Mulan” and the story “Fa Mulan” by Robert D. San Souci, Mulan is the tale of a heroic young girl in China posing as a man in order to serve the Emperor. An adventure of a lifetime provides a lesson in overcoming adversity in a tale that will entertain and empower."
Enjoy your summers,
-Mike
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Papers available for pick-up
Final Post:
Your papers are graded and available to pick up in the English COPY ROOM (not my mailbox as previously announced, so now you can pick yours up if the office is closed). The copy room is right down the hall from the department office: room # N-304. Your papers are in a box labeled with our class name. If you haven't picked yours up by early next fall, I'll assume you've moved on to bigger and better things and will remove it. But if you later think back longingly of that simpler time when you were in Myth and American Literature and would like your paper (and I haven't yet recycled it), please email me and I'll get it to you.
With many thanks and best wishes,
Sarah
Your papers are graded and available to pick up in the English COPY ROOM (not my mailbox as previously announced, so now you can pick yours up if the office is closed). The copy room is right down the hall from the department office: room # N-304. Your papers are in a box labeled with our class name. If you haven't picked yours up by early next fall, I'll assume you've moved on to bigger and better things and will remove it. But if you later think back longingly of that simpler time when you were in Myth and American Literature and would like your paper (and I haven't yet recycled it), please email me and I'll get it to you.
With many thanks and best wishes,
Sarah
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Mackey Poems Part Two
I hope paper writing is going well. If you need a break, get an early start on the next installment of Nathaniel Mackey's Eroding Witness.
Since we still need to discuss those I said to focus on for our previous class, I'll only list a few more to focus on for our last class, though I'm not sure we'll be able to get to them all:
"Poem for Don Cherry"
"Outer Egypt"
"Ohnedaruth's Day Begun"
"Falso Brilhante"
Looking forward to our conferences!
Since we still need to discuss those I said to focus on for our previous class, I'll only list a few more to focus on for our last class, though I'm not sure we'll be able to get to them all:
"Poem for Don Cherry"
"Outer Egypt"
"Ohnedaruth's Day Begun"
"Falso Brilhante"
Looking forward to our conferences!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Mackey poems
Hi all,
For Tuesday, 4/14, you'll be reading the first half of Nathaniel Mackey's book of poems, Eroding Witness. I'd like you to focus especially on the opening statement by fellow poet Michael Harper, "Ghede Poem," and all of the "Song of the Andoumboulou." If you don't print all of the poems, these are the ones you should print and bring to class.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the end of The Woman Warrior and on Kingston's essay, "Cultural Mis-Readings."
See you tomorrow,
Sarah
For Tuesday, 4/14, you'll be reading the first half of Nathaniel Mackey's book of poems, Eroding Witness. I'd like you to focus especially on the opening statement by fellow poet Michael Harper, "Ghede Poem," and all of the "Song of the Andoumboulou." If you don't print all of the poems, these are the ones you should print and bring to class.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the end of The Woman Warrior and on Kingston's essay, "Cultural Mis-Readings."
See you tomorrow,
Sarah
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
A Structuralist View of Woman Warrior
As a first generation (I think that’s what we decided?) Chinese American, Kingston is in an interesting place. She is fluent in both Chinese and English, but she obviously struggles with the translation of meaning between the two languages. It is easy to translate words—the word might be different (the signifier), but the object (the signified) is theoretically the same: a tree is theoretically always a tree. However, Kingston struggles with this: objects (simple signifieds) are easy enough to translate, but concepts and meanings and contextual, implicit, understood meanings cannot be translated. In their blog post, someone mentioned the disconnect of translating the two languages: “What’s the main idea? ‘I don’t know the Chinese words for it.’”
I think this translation difficulty is seen in one of the most common words in the novel: “talk-story.” Kingston does not use the word “story” or “oral history, which I think many people in the class would resort to, but rather uses this clearly un-American word “talk-story.” However, the way Kingston seems to understand the stories, it would be insufficient to merely call them a story or an oral history: it wouldn’t quite encompass the meaning or the importance of these spoken narratives. They are more than just talking or just stories: they are both narratives and lessons, and there seems to be no word in English which Kingston can use to as effectively explain the implicit significance she finds in these stories. Though I don’t know structuralism very well, I would think that it would argue that there is no English signifier for a “talk-story,” and that this Chinese concept / act is something unique to that culture which we, as English speakers, have a hard time understanding out of context. As a result, Kingston is required to find the words best able to describe the concept…but I doubt that we, as native to the US, will ever truly understand it. In many ways, we are incapable of ever truly understanding where Kingston is coming from—but in the long run, I think Kingston does a good job of trying to get us as close as possible.
Last, there is the theme of the power of words in the chapter “White Tigers.” Kingston seems incapable of fighting against the petty racism of her bosses, but she draws strength from words; she explains that “the reporting is the vengeance—not the beheading, not the gutting, but the words.” The power of words to exact revenge most powerfully is clear; however, it’s also clear that Kingston is struggling with the words: she claims to have “so many words—‘chink’ words and ‘gook’ words too—that they do not fit on [her] skin.” The structural harshness of these words alone—especially in the English language, with the hard k sounds and single syllables—is shocking, racist, and powerful. However, Woman Warrior is her act of vengeance: a written narrative exacting a permanent revenge. In her revenge, Kingston is so overwhelmed by the power of these words that she cannot etch them into her skin as Fa Mulan has, for she has too much to say: thus, we see one of what are probably many purposes in the development of this novel, in which Kingston attempts to find the peace that Fa Mulan achieved by returning home.
- Cari
PS: Apologies for the tardiness of this post.
I think this translation difficulty is seen in one of the most common words in the novel: “talk-story.” Kingston does not use the word “story” or “oral history, which I think many people in the class would resort to, but rather uses this clearly un-American word “talk-story.” However, the way Kingston seems to understand the stories, it would be insufficient to merely call them a story or an oral history: it wouldn’t quite encompass the meaning or the importance of these spoken narratives. They are more than just talking or just stories: they are both narratives and lessons, and there seems to be no word in English which Kingston can use to as effectively explain the implicit significance she finds in these stories. Though I don’t know structuralism very well, I would think that it would argue that there is no English signifier for a “talk-story,” and that this Chinese concept / act is something unique to that culture which we, as English speakers, have a hard time understanding out of context. As a result, Kingston is required to find the words best able to describe the concept…but I doubt that we, as native to the US, will ever truly understand it. In many ways, we are incapable of ever truly understanding where Kingston is coming from—but in the long run, I think Kingston does a good job of trying to get us as close as possible.
Last, there is the theme of the power of words in the chapter “White Tigers.” Kingston seems incapable of fighting against the petty racism of her bosses, but she draws strength from words; she explains that “the reporting is the vengeance—not the beheading, not the gutting, but the words.” The power of words to exact revenge most powerfully is clear; however, it’s also clear that Kingston is struggling with the words: she claims to have “so many words—‘chink’ words and ‘gook’ words too—that they do not fit on [her] skin.” The structural harshness of these words alone—especially in the English language, with the hard k sounds and single syllables—is shocking, racist, and powerful. However, Woman Warrior is her act of vengeance: a written narrative exacting a permanent revenge. In her revenge, Kingston is so overwhelmed by the power of these words that she cannot etch them into her skin as Fa Mulan has, for she has too much to say: thus, we see one of what are probably many purposes in the development of this novel, in which Kingston attempts to find the peace that Fa Mulan achieved by returning home.
- Cari
PS: Apologies for the tardiness of this post.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Where is Maxine?
One thing I have noticed as has progressed is the waning presence of Maxine's voice and reflections. "No Name Woman," although it tells the story of Maxine's aunt, really centers around Maxine as she shares the story her mother secretly told her as well as stories from her own childhood and adolescence. It is entirely from her point of view, and includes her speculations about what her aunt's story has meant and still means in her life. "White Tigers" is again told from the perspective of Maxine, and compares Maxine's own childhood with the journey of Fa Mulan, a woman warrior she dreamed of becoming. "Shaman" switches back and forth between Maxine's thoughts and her mother's thoughts and actions as a student in Chinese medical school, but all of Maxine's reflections are about her mother. The story focuses on Brave Orchid. "At The Western Palace" focuses entirely on Brave Orchid and her thoughts about her sister, her children, and her life in the United States. Though Kingston is writing the story, Maxine is only present as one of Brave Orchid's incomprehensible children, indistinguishable from her brothers and sisters.
It is interesting that these shifts in Kingston's book occur so linearly. It shows an obvious shift from Maxine's perspective to some mix of Maxine's and Brave Orchid's perspective to entirely Brave Orchid's perspective. Perhaps this is to make both characters' points of view more understandable. At the beginning of I had a hard time being sympathetic with Brave Orchid's traditions and parenting style, but after knowing her own history and experiencing one story completely through her eyes, her attitudes and actions become more understandable.
It is interesting that these shifts in Kingston's book occur so linearly. It shows an obvious shift from Maxine's perspective to some mix of Maxine's and Brave Orchid's perspective to entirely Brave Orchid's perspective. Perhaps this is to make both characters' points of view more understandable. At the beginning of
What’s wrong with Moon Orchid?
Moon Orchid’s primary problem is that her husband left her in China for thirty years. Even though he frequently sends her significant amounts of money (enough so that Moon Orchid didn’t work and her daughter went to college), Moon Orchid’s husband emotionally and physically neglected his wife.
But Moon Orchid has another problem: her sister Brave Orchid. Kingston portrays Brave Orchid as brave (go figure!), bold, and a tenacious woman who takes it upon herself to be responsible for the problems of others. Among the first lines we read about Brave Orchid describes her adding, “… her will power to the forces that keep an airplane up. Her head hurt with the concentration” (113). This description shows how Brave Orchid thinks she can accomplish the impossible by sheer will.
Brave Orchid brings Moon Orchid to California so that she can confront her negligent husband. While I am all for familial reconciliation, the way Kingston writes this chapter frustrates me deeply. The text reads as sympathetic towards Brave Orchid’s method. But this confrontation has the effect of blunt trauma to Moon Orchid’s psyche. After the botched meeting, Kingston describes Moon Orchid as having a pervading sense that someone is after her. She turns off all the lights in the house, worries that someone in D.C. wants her ashes, and becomes extremely sad when left alone. These symptoms and those described on pages 159-60 are typical symptoms of paranoid dementia.
My opinion is that this man doesn’t deserve Moon Orchid. After thirty years of abandonment, she should leave him in the dust, take the money, and move to Maui. But I wouldn’t force or coerce her into making that decision, and I think Brave Orchid makes a bad situation worse. I think it’s something like cowardice when Brave Orchid (or any instigator) encourages someone else to enter an emotionally vulnerable and dangerous situation that has can do no emotional damage to the instigator. Brave Orchid was delusional in thinking that she could hold up a plane by sheer concentration, and she was equally delusional (and insensitive) to think that bringing Moon Orchid to California to confront her husband would improve the situation.
-Mike
But Moon Orchid has another problem: her sister Brave Orchid. Kingston portrays Brave Orchid as brave (go figure!), bold, and a tenacious woman who takes it upon herself to be responsible for the problems of others. Among the first lines we read about Brave Orchid describes her adding, “… her will power to the forces that keep an airplane up. Her head hurt with the concentration” (113). This description shows how Brave Orchid thinks she can accomplish the impossible by sheer will.
Brave Orchid brings Moon Orchid to California so that she can confront her negligent husband. While I am all for familial reconciliation, the way Kingston writes this chapter frustrates me deeply. The text reads as sympathetic towards Brave Orchid’s method. But this confrontation has the effect of blunt trauma to Moon Orchid’s psyche. After the botched meeting, Kingston describes Moon Orchid as having a pervading sense that someone is after her. She turns off all the lights in the house, worries that someone in D.C. wants her ashes, and becomes extremely sad when left alone. These symptoms and those described on pages 159-60 are typical symptoms of paranoid dementia.
My opinion is that this man doesn’t deserve Moon Orchid. After thirty years of abandonment, she should leave him in the dust, take the money, and move to Maui. But I wouldn’t force or coerce her into making that decision, and I think Brave Orchid makes a bad situation worse. I think it’s something like cowardice when Brave Orchid (or any instigator) encourages someone else to enter an emotionally vulnerable and dangerous situation that has can do no emotional damage to the instigator. Brave Orchid was delusional in thinking that she could hold up a plane by sheer concentration, and she was equally delusional (and insensitive) to think that bringing Moon Orchid to California to confront her husband would improve the situation.
-Mike
Maxine and Swordswoman
I found Kingston’s comparison of Maxine and Fa Mu Lan to be incredibly interesting. At first glance, it seems like they could not be more dissimilar. Whereas Fa Mu Lan conquers armies singlehandedly, Maxine cannot even prevail over her racist boss. This seeming dissimilarity is resolved when Kingston writes that, “What we have in common are the words at our backs. The idioms for revenge are ‘report a crime’ and ‘report to five families.’ The reporting is the vengeance—not the beheading, not the gutting, but the words. And I have so many words—‘chink’ words and ‘gook’ words too—that they do not fit on my skin” (53). The crucial comparison made by Kingston is that both Maxine and Fa Mu Lan are burdened with words. While Fa Mu Lan had words of vengeance cut into her back, Brave Orchid crams talk-stories riddled with racial incongruities into Maxine’s head. These stories starkly juxtapose Chinese culture with the American culture Maxine eventually assimilates into. Her personal struggle lies in making sense of these stories through her depiction of growing up as a first-generation Chinese American. There is an essential difference, however, in Fa Mu Lan’s and Maxine’s struggles. Fa Mu Lan can return home after she has fulfilled her duty to exact her family’s vengeance. Maxine, on the other hand, seems to have so many words to confront that her struggle seems to be never-ending.
Disconnects
In Woman Warrior, there is a strong theme of cultural, and generational, disconnect. This is especially obvious in the scene where Moon Orchid comes to stay with Brave Orchid and her family.
As Moon Orchid gets settled into her new home, we see how her, Brave Orchid and the children each seem to live in their own separate worlds. Because of this, they are unable to communicate properly with each other and understand the context of their respective actions. Moon Orchid, although she tries, is unable to reach out and fully comprehend her sister's children. Their American upbringing is so completely different from the Chinese culture she grew up in that it is as though they come from another planet. The way Kingston describes these moments seem to really portray this disconnect: "Sometimes when the girls were reading or watching television, she crept up behind them with a comb and tried to smooth their hair, but they shook their heads, and they turned and fixed her with those eyes. She wondered what they thought and what they saw when the looked at her like that...They were like animals the way they stared" (133). We get to see, from how Kingston sets up Moon Orchid's perspective, the complete alienation that she feels from her own family.
Another form of the disconnect is the inability of certain American concepts to be translated into Chinese, and vice-versa: " 'What's the main idea?' 'I don't know the Chinese words for it' " (133). Mannerisms, etiquette, taste--these are just more elements that do not line up, and this does not provide any sense of stabilizing comfort for Moon Orchid. This eventually has a negative impact on her sense of well-being.
After the scene with Moon Orchid and her husband, we see her fall into some sort of extreme paranoia that had not been present before. Moon Orchid's inability to relate to the majority of the people around her contributes to confusion. Kingston describes this as her having "misplaced herself, her spirit...scattered all over the world" (158). The author really emphasizes the consequences of displacing someone and immersing them in a completely different world. Moon Orchid's sense of stability returns only after she (falsely) believes that the people around her in the mental asylum are the same as her, speaking the same language and able to finally understand what she is saying (161).
As Moon Orchid gets settled into her new home, we see how her, Brave Orchid and the children each seem to live in their own separate worlds. Because of this, they are unable to communicate properly with each other and understand the context of their respective actions. Moon Orchid, although she tries, is unable to reach out and fully comprehend her sister's children. Their American upbringing is so completely different from the Chinese culture she grew up in that it is as though they come from another planet. The way Kingston describes these moments seem to really portray this disconnect: "Sometimes when the girls were reading or watching television, she crept up behind them with a comb and tried to smooth their hair, but they shook their heads, and they turned and fixed her with those eyes. She wondered what they thought and what they saw when the looked at her like that...They were like animals the way they stared" (133). We get to see, from how Kingston sets up Moon Orchid's perspective, the complete alienation that she feels from her own family.
Another form of the disconnect is the inability of certain American concepts to be translated into Chinese, and vice-versa: " 'What's the main idea?' 'I don't know the Chinese words for it' " (133). Mannerisms, etiquette, taste--these are just more elements that do not line up, and this does not provide any sense of stabilizing comfort for Moon Orchid. This eventually has a negative impact on her sense of well-being.
After the scene with Moon Orchid and her husband, we see her fall into some sort of extreme paranoia that had not been present before. Moon Orchid's inability to relate to the majority of the people around her contributes to confusion. Kingston describes this as her having "misplaced herself, her spirit...scattered all over the world" (158). The author really emphasizes the consequences of displacing someone and immersing them in a completely different world. Moon Orchid's sense of stability returns only after she (falsely) believes that the people around her in the mental asylum are the same as her, speaking the same language and able to finally understand what she is saying (161).
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Maxine and Her Mom
It is not a myth that it is common for mothers and daughters to have strained relationships, especially during a daughter’s teenage and early adult years. In Maxine Kingston’s Woman Warrior, it appears that one of the reasons for the strained relationship between Maxine and her mother is due to cultural differences. By this I mean that because Maxine’s mother was raised in China and Maxine in America, their relationship suffers. Also a result of where each woman was raised, it seems that Maxine and her mother have little in common, while placing value on different aspects of life. While there are many examples of their differences, the first that comes to mind deals with Maxine’s mother telling Maxine that girls were not valued as compared to boys in China. Maxine’s mother goes on to say that “during the war, though, when you were born, many people gave older girls away for free. And here I was in the United States paying two hundred dollars for you." This statement by Maxine’s mother makes me believe that even though Maxine was born in the United States, Maxine’s mother still chooses to follow to Chinese tradition. It is also ironic to me that Maxine’s mother is complaining to Maxine about birthing her, yet Maxine had no control in being conceived.
Other cases of this occur when Maxine’s mother is not proud of Maxine earning straight A’s in school (because this was not valued in Chinese culture for a female) as well as when Maxine is described as being embarrassed when her mother bargains in department stores (in China this would have been normal, yet bargaining is generally not acceptable in the United States).
Other cases of this occur when Maxine’s mother is not proud of Maxine earning straight A’s in school (because this was not valued in Chinese culture for a female) as well as when Maxine is described as being embarrassed when her mother bargains in department stores (in China this would have been normal, yet bargaining is generally not acceptable in the United States).
At the Western Palace
In the section of the book, the struggle to assimilate is put into even more focus. Moon Orchid is brought from China only to be forced to see her husband who has found a new life as well as a new wife. Taking into account Maxine Hong Kingston's last line that states that all of Brave Orchid's children decided to go into math and science , the author seems to be emphasizing the need for strength when brought to a new home. Brave Orchid is the epitome of strength. She seems to never tire at her work and only complains about her sister. Moon Orchid is the opposite of her sisters power. She is distracted by shiny things, her sisters barbaric children, and is not even able to fold a towel properly without a mold. Moon Orchid does not have the strength to face her husband and is ultimately crushed by their meeting and ends up dying in a mental institution for her fear of being murdered.
Though it may be a stretch, I would really like to somehow incorporate this idea of needing strength to exist, things that we can also find in previous chapters of this book through the narrator and myths, as being opposing the ghost people that are mentioned throughout. I am not really sure how this would work, but it would be neat to find an opposing correlation between the western people even those that came from China who are now ghosts to the purer and more refined described people who have not assimilated. Perhaps viewing the ghosts as not true or only half people who have lost some of themselves and are bad for this reason and comparing them to people such as Brave Orchid.
If this is not very clear please please leave me a comment and hopefully we can get a convo going that might make this make more sense.
Thanks,
Joanne
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Seventh and Final Blog Post Assignment
By Monday, April 6 at noon: Those of you whose last names begin with N-Z, please post with your responses to The Woman Warrior and/or Chin's article. See below for jumping off points, which you are welcome to use or ignore at your discretion.
By Wednesday, April 8 at noon: Those of you whose last names begin with A-M, please comment on at least one of your fellow classmate's posts.
Jumping off points:
What does Maxine mean when she says that she and the swordswoman are not so dissimilar (53)?
What kind of relationship does Maxine have with her mother?
What is going on with the point of view in "At the Western Palace"?
What's wrong with Moon Orchid?
Why do all of Brave Orchid's children decide to "major in science or mathematics" (160)?
How does Frank Chin explain stereotypes against Chinese and Chinese Americans?
What do you think of Chin's definition of myth on page 29?
What is Chin's problem with autobiography?
By Wednesday, April 8 at noon: Those of you whose last names begin with A-M, please comment on at least one of your fellow classmate's posts.
Jumping off points:
What does Maxine mean when she says that she and the swordswoman are not so dissimilar (53)?
What kind of relationship does Maxine have with her mother?
What is going on with the point of view in "At the Western Palace"?
What's wrong with Moon Orchid?
Why do all of Brave Orchid's children decide to "major in science or mathematics" (160)?
How does Frank Chin explain stereotypes against Chinese and Chinese Americans?
What do you think of Chin's definition of myth on page 29?
What is Chin's problem with autobiography?
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Final Paper Assignment
Myth as Controversy in Ceremony or The Woman Warrior or both
Due: Noon, May 6 (or earlier) in my box in the English department (3rd floor Callaway)
As we have discussed in class, the use of myth in both Ceremony and The Woman Warrior has stirred up controversy. Why is this? What is it about the incorporation of sacred stories into secular ones that makes readers intrigued but also uncomfortable? How is such a response affected by the reader's familiarity, or lack thereof, with the culture from which the myths derive? Do myths lose or gain power when incorporated into literature? What kind of power?
These are just some questions to get you thinking about what myth's role is in Silko's and Kingston's works. You don't have to deal with the specific controversies, eg. the issues raised by Allen or Chin, but I do what you making an argument about the role of myth in Silko's and Kingston's works and the implications of it. Why do Silko and Kingston take the risk of using such sensitive materials in their literary works? What is it that myths do that make them worth the risk? In other words, how do you see mythic narratives contributing to their projects in unique ways? How do myths fuel their political statements about minority American identity, feminism, war, etc?
To support your argument about myth's role in the context of literature, please cite AT LEAST ONE of the following thinkers: McCutcheon (remember him?), Frazer, Eliade, Levi-Strauss, DuPlessis, Doniger. You can look to them to help explicate how you see myth working in Silko’s or Kingston’s text, or you may see Silko and Kingston revising or departing from them.
The majority of your paper should consist of close readings as well as careful, articulate, and focused literary analysis that supports your thesis statement. Please abstain from extensive summary.
You are welcome to do additional research, though it is not required. Of course, if you do, cite your sources in the body of your paper and include a Works Cited page. Do not cite from the Internet, though on-line library databases are fine.
Your paper should be at least ten pages in length, double-spaced, twelve-point Times New Roman font and formatted according to MLA research guidelines.
You will each meet with me individually during the week of 4/20 to discuss either a rough draft or a very thorough outline or plan. The farther you are in the writing process, the better I will be able to help you polish your paper into something really impressive and sophisticated. Remember: Difficult ideas and concepts require time to develop, so the more work you do earlier on, the more room you allow yourself to complicate and clarify your argument. Please staple the draft that we work on together behind your final draft.
Due: Noon, May 6 (or earlier) in my box in the English department (3rd floor Callaway)
As we have discussed in class, the use of myth in both Ceremony and The Woman Warrior has stirred up controversy. Why is this? What is it about the incorporation of sacred stories into secular ones that makes readers intrigued but also uncomfortable? How is such a response affected by the reader's familiarity, or lack thereof, with the culture from which the myths derive? Do myths lose or gain power when incorporated into literature? What kind of power?
These are just some questions to get you thinking about what myth's role is in Silko's and Kingston's works. You don't have to deal with the specific controversies, eg. the issues raised by Allen or Chin, but I do what you making an argument about the role of myth in Silko's and Kingston's works and the implications of it. Why do Silko and Kingston take the risk of using such sensitive materials in their literary works? What is it that myths do that make them worth the risk? In other words, how do you see mythic narratives contributing to their projects in unique ways? How do myths fuel their political statements about minority American identity, feminism, war, etc?
To support your argument about myth's role in the context of literature, please cite AT LEAST ONE of the following thinkers: McCutcheon (remember him?), Frazer, Eliade, Levi-Strauss, DuPlessis, Doniger. You can look to them to help explicate how you see myth working in Silko’s or Kingston’s text, or you may see Silko and Kingston revising or departing from them.
The majority of your paper should consist of close readings as well as careful, articulate, and focused literary analysis that supports your thesis statement. Please abstain from extensive summary.
You are welcome to do additional research, though it is not required. Of course, if you do, cite your sources in the body of your paper and include a Works Cited page. Do not cite from the Internet, though on-line library databases are fine.
Your paper should be at least ten pages in length, double-spaced, twelve-point Times New Roman font and formatted according to MLA research guidelines.
You will each meet with me individually during the week of 4/20 to discuss either a rough draft or a very thorough outline or plan. The farther you are in the writing process, the better I will be able to help you polish your paper into something really impressive and sophisticated. Remember: Difficult ideas and concepts require time to develop, so the more work you do earlier on, the more room you allow yourself to complicate and clarify your argument. Please staple the draft that we work on together behind your final draft.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Allen Article
I guess this blog entry sort of coincides with Claudia's post (and Mike's comment). I agree with Claudia somewhat that Paula Allen seems to be cheating her profession's mission by not disclosing information she knows to her students, especially when they ask directly about specific events or ceremonies. At the same time, I understand that she feels a tie to her people's privacy and feels obligated to keep the secrets of her tribe and people.
I thought it was really interesting that some Indians thought that "preserving tradition in print is not worth the price" (380) and, like in the example that Mike mentioned, dire consequences might befall anyone who openly shared the stories or inside information of the tribes. Western culture is so obsessed with recording every minute aspect of even irrelevant events that this seems counterintuitive. To be from a culture who Twitters every little detail, posts blogs or journal entries with the whole world on a whim, and to read about people who would prefer their stories and historical data disappear entirely rather than share them with ignorant outsiders is completely foreign. Allen addresses the problem between Western culture's [is this the right term? since the Indians are geographically 'western' too] desire to know everything but also want privacy. I think it is disingenuous to keep information from interested scholars, but some things should be kept private. I guess that's one of Allen's main arguments--where to draw the line, in teaching and in writing.
Allen's example with the anthropologist Elsie Parsons who conducted a very sterile and almost-autopsy-like analysis of the Laguna people is the wrong approach. Allen says Parsons "objectified, explained, detailed and analyzed their lives as though they were simply curios, artifacts, fetishes." No culture or people can be so precisely pigeonholed. There is always some exception, and I think that's where science fails in trying to understand different cultures. There has to be a balance between observations and analysis that is not too scientific, but also not completely worthless. I think Silko (and the other myth writers we've read) struggle with this balance also, giving the readers enough to be able to grasp the ideas and struggles presented within the cultures, but also keep some information, ceremonies and traditions, mysterious.
Tayo's Concept of Floyd Lee
Tayo hesitates to accuse the white Texan, Floyd Lee a thief because of his general assumption that the white man has money and their is no reason for him to steal. On page 190 in Silko's Ceremony, Tayo, "Had a crazy desire to believe that there had been some mistake, that Floyd Lee had gotten them innocently, maybe buying them from the real thieves." Tayo was forced to learn that the white man worked for what he earned and people like the Mexicans and the Indians were the ones that stole. Tayo knew that, "He had learned that lie by heart-- the lie which they had wanted him to learn." The "They" in the quotation is ambiguous, but ultimately the "They" could be the white man, his teachers in school, or societal norms. The lie which Tayo refers to is that, "only brown skinned people were thieves; white people didn't steal, because they always had the money to buy whatever they wanted." Tayo assumes that the white man "always had the money" and that others like the Indians were always poor; therefore, if Floyd Lee was a thief than he would be no better than the Indians and the Mexicans. The only difference Floyd Lee would ultimately have would be the color of his skin.
Disappointment
In the final portion of the section entitled "White Tigers," The narrator begins by plainly stating that her "American life has been such a disappointment" (45). This statement is the first one produced by the narrator after recounting a version of the Mulan myth. Such an utterance, which follows a tale of a legendary female warrior who avenges her family and overthrows a tyrannical emperor, leads the reader to assume that the narrator's own life is much different from that of Fa Mu Lan. It soon becomes clear that the reason the narrator is such a disappointment lies primarily in the fact that she is a woman. She explains that in the Chinese culture - or at least in her native village - women are seen in a very negative light. She recalls sayings that she heard such as "better to raise geese than girls," and "when you're raising girls, you're raising children for strangers" (46). The narrator also provides instances when neighbors and relatives would show preference for sons over daughters, like when her uncle refuses to bring the narrator and her sister shopping. In simply being born female, the narrator is a disappointment to her family and her community. There is also another source of disappointment, which is expressed by the narrator herself. This disappointment comes from her inability to change the way that she is perceived. In the Mulan myth we see that a young woman is able to assume the role of a male when she is trained as a warrior and goes on to protect her family from harm. It took a tremendous amount of time, effort and courage for Fa Mu Lan to become a son for her parents, but in the end she succeeded. The narrator seems to feel that to perform this feat in mid-20th century America is close to impossible. She laments that she cannot raise a child and plow fields simultaneously, like the swordswomen she idolizes. She says she can determine who the enemies are - the businessmen who took her parents' laundry - but she cannot go out and avenge her family like Fa Mu Lan. Her visions of retributions are only "gun and knife fantasies" and her enemies are much bigger than her and "impossible to meet eye to eye" (48). The narrator is not able to conquer both the capitalists in American and the Communists in China. She feels that she can never be the kind of person that Fa Mu Lan was, nor can she embark on a journey like hers. The fact that she is a woman, and can do nothing to change it, is doubly disappointing.
Allen's Article
I have never reacted quite as strongly to a piece of reading as I did to Paula Gunn Allen's article. My first reaction is to ask, why even teach? Perhaps because I fall into the "wanna be" category, I feel opposed to Allen's reaction to teaching, or more accurately "non-teaching" because she seems to undermine the ability of the student to show respect for another's culture. While reading the article, I never found concrete reasons for her apparently inherent inability to provide her students with an education. Her statements like, "I find myself physically ill when I attempt to override those early lessons" (384) make me want to suggest that she find a different profession, or at the very least stop attempting to teach literary works that she cannot support. I can respect her decision to not teach a certain work, rather than try to half teach a work. As a student, I find myself curious to know about the history and myths of the people we read. In order to understand a work of literature, a reader must understand the history of the text. Allen strongly suggests that students, as outsiders, do not have the capacity to understand the sacredness of an event within a text. As an academic, I find this suggestion insulting. She closes with "Perhaps they will find themselves ever more aware that native people are people, and their ways are not a spectacle but simply and significantly, a way of life" (386). I disagree with her opinion that a fascination and interest in other cultures reverts that culture and people to a spectacle. If anything, in order to preserve and maintain culture it must be understood and appreciated by those interacting with it.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Cultural Identity in The Woman Warrior
The narrator's "American life has been such a disappointment" (45) to her parents because she begun to assimilate into American culture, behaving as other young American girls do instead of remaining totally true to her parent's' traditional Asian values. Kingston juxtaposes this statement about the narrator's disillusionment with her Asian background with Fa Mu Lan's myth, which highlights feminine strength and courage, suggesting that her parents wish that she would aim for this ideal. Although the protagonist accomplishes more than the average girl living in America when she earns "straight A's" in school, she bemoans the fact that she will never be able to "do something big and fine" (46) in order to please her parents. They demand that she adhere to the Asian standard of accomplishment, perhaps in order to keep her from slipping away from them and into the American culture abyss, a world about which they understand very little. The fact that they belittle something great she thinks she has attained shows that their conceptualization of what she should do with her life diverges sharply from the path she wants to take. In short, the major disparity between Asian values and American beliefs keeps the narrator from being happy with her successes. She has to struggle to fulfill her parents' wishes while remaining true to her own personal aspirations. I think the rest of the novel will probably show her journey to reconcile these two cultural halves that compose her overall identity.
Sexuality in Ceremony vs The Woman Warrior
Throughout the opening pages in The Woman Warrior, what really struck me is the way in which the author illustrated the stigma of sexuality through the figure of the aunt. The aunt is literally shamed to death for her sexual deeds, even though she did not necessarily mean to bring it upon herself. This appears in stark contrast to what we saw in Ceremony, where intercourse was part Tayo's spiritual journey. Just as the aunt commits adultery, we see Ts'eh sleep with Tayo, despite her marriage to the hunter. Unlike the aunt, Ts'eh is not punished or looked down upon for she is a divine figure and, thus, has slightly different standards. However, the fact that Silko does not stigmatize Night Swan for sleeping with many men, suggests that it is not Ts'eh'a divinity that sepparates her from the aunt, but something greater: the cultures. One reason the culture create different reactions to sexuality within reality is because of the mythic precedence within each culture. I am wondering how else the dissimiliar cultures will create points of both unity and contention.
Does anyone see a place where they see unity either within the mythic traditions or the general cultures of Ceremony and The Woman Warrior?
Does anyone see a place where they see unity either within the mythic traditions or the general cultures of Ceremony and The Woman Warrior?
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Reminder and Link to Prof. Nelson's Ceremony webpage
For those of you who were absent: We did not get to Allen's article, so we will start class on Tuesday discussing it.
And here's the link to the Ceremony website that Robert Nelson made:
http://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~rnelson/mapping
And here's the link to the Ceremony website that Robert Nelson made:
http://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~rnelson/mapping
Sixth Blog Post Assignment
By Monday, March 30 at noon: Those of you whose last names begin with A-M, please post with your responses to either Ceremony or The Woman Warrior, or both. See below for jumping off points, which you are welcome to use or ignore at your discretion.
By Wednesday, April 1 at noon: Those of you whose last names begin with N-Z, please comment on at least one of your fellow classmate's posts.
Jumping off points:
Ceremony:
Why does Tayo hesitate to refer to Floyd Lee, the man who has the cattle, as a thief on p. 191?
On p. 169 and 204, the narrator describes how Indians continue to mourn the land they have lost. Loss seems to be a big part of this book, and attempting to deal with something you've lost (especially when you see it in front of you every day), proves a monumental challenge for Tayo and Indians more generally. What do you make of these passages? What does Silko believe helps?
Why do the atom bomb and uranium figure so prominently in Ceremony, especially pages 243-247?
What is Tayo doing in the kiva at the end?
The Woman Warrior:
Why does the narrator tell the story her mother told her not to tell any one?
What is "talk-story"?
Why has the narrator's life been such a "disappointment" (45)?
By Wednesday, April 1 at noon: Those of you whose last names begin with N-Z, please comment on at least one of your fellow classmate's posts.
Jumping off points:
Ceremony:
Why does Tayo hesitate to refer to Floyd Lee, the man who has the cattle, as a thief on p. 191?
On p. 169 and 204, the narrator describes how Indians continue to mourn the land they have lost. Loss seems to be a big part of this book, and attempting to deal with something you've lost (especially when you see it in front of you every day), proves a monumental challenge for Tayo and Indians more generally. What do you make of these passages? What does Silko believe helps?
Why do the atom bomb and uranium figure so prominently in Ceremony, especially pages 243-247?
What is Tayo doing in the kiva at the end?
The Woman Warrior:
Why does the narrator tell the story her mother told her not to tell any one?
What is "talk-story"?
Why has the narrator's life been such a "disappointment" (45)?
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tayo's Ceremony
I agree with Claudia's confusion about the ceremony Tayo completes.
I can see clear connections between the myths in throughout the novel and Tayo's journey to complete his ceremony. The continuing myth about Hummingbird and Fly seeking water for their starving world lines up in many ways with Tayo's life. The Laguna reservation is in the midst of a drought, and Emo's horrific treatment of Harley, Leroy, and Pinkie seems to be a type of witchery or "ck'o'yo'" magic that the people are swayed and distracted by. As the myth about Hummingbird and Fly resolves itself and the people are purified, Tayo refuses to give in to "the witchery" of killing Emo and presumably the drought will end.
I also agree with you, Claudia, about your idea that Tayo's healing comes from a deepended understanding of the earth and the ways that his community is connected to the earth. But, I think that it is overly simplistic for Silko to let the novel end where it does and let Tayo complete his ceremony when he does. I understood a huge part of Tayo's distress and sickness to be connected with the war. He has flashbacks about the Japanese jungle, certain sounds and experiences send him into a frenzy, and he is unable to keep food on his stomach for the majority of the novel. Nowhere in the ceremony Tayo completes does it seem like he begins to deal with the trauma of the war. How does Tayo forget the horrors of the war? Why is his ceremony completely wrapped up in the Laguna reservation, his home, and his enemies at home (namely Emo), and not the world around him or the white world that sent him to the war and then rejected him?
I can see clear connections between the myths in throughout the novel and Tayo's journey to complete his ceremony. The continuing myth about Hummingbird and Fly seeking water for their starving world lines up in many ways with Tayo's life. The Laguna reservation is in the midst of a drought, and Emo's horrific treatment of Harley, Leroy, and Pinkie seems to be a type of witchery or "ck'o'yo'" magic that the people are swayed and distracted by. As the myth about Hummingbird and Fly resolves itself and the people are purified, Tayo refuses to give in to "the witchery" of killing Emo and presumably the drought will end.
I also agree with you, Claudia, about your idea that Tayo's healing comes from a deepended understanding of the earth and the ways that his community is connected to the earth. But, I think that it is overly simplistic for Silko to let the novel end where it does and let Tayo complete his ceremony when he does. I understood a huge part of Tayo's distress and sickness to be connected with the war. He has flashbacks about the Japanese jungle, certain sounds and experiences send him into a frenzy, and he is unable to keep food on his stomach for the majority of the novel. Nowhere in the ceremony Tayo completes does it seem like he begins to deal with the trauma of the war. How does Tayo forget the horrors of the war? Why is his ceremony completely wrapped up in the Laguna reservation, his home, and his enemies at home (namely Emo), and not the world around him or the white world that sent him to the war and then rejected him?
What is the Ceremony?
Having just finished the novel, I'm confused about Tayo's ceremony and how it's portrayed throughout the story. Yesterday in class, we discussed that his ceremony is his journey throughout the whole book, as well as the physical ceremony Betonie performs. What struck me most was for the ceremony to be complete, Tayo had to resist the urge of "the witchery" of killing Emo and return home. His return home corresponds with many of the myths found within the novel. The way I read home, though, is by returning to the land. For example, Tayo finds peace when he understands "we came out of this land and we are hers" (255).
Another question I have is how do the myths differ from Tayo's ceremony? Are they meant solely to show the history and beliefs of the people, and in that way they are healing?
What I found most interesting was the book's resolution. When Old Grandma states, "It seems like I already heard these stories before...only thing is, the names sound different" (260) she shows the reader that time continues and encircles itself. This is much like Betonie reasoning that ceremonies are always changing because the voices differ with each generation. Is the ceremony, then, the acceptance of the ever-present flow of time? If so, then Tayo's healing comes from his understanding that he belongs to the earth and that life continues even through hardship and evil doings, and that the sun will always rise.
Another question I have is how do the myths differ from Tayo's ceremony? Are they meant solely to show the history and beliefs of the people, and in that way they are healing?
What I found most interesting was the book's resolution. When Old Grandma states, "It seems like I already heard these stories before...only thing is, the names sound different" (260) she shows the reader that time continues and encircles itself. This is much like Betonie reasoning that ceremonies are always changing because the voices differ with each generation. Is the ceremony, then, the acceptance of the ever-present flow of time? If so, then Tayo's healing comes from his understanding that he belongs to the earth and that life continues even through hardship and evil doings, and that the sun will always rise.
Auntie's Relationship with the Sins of Others
Although Ceremony is a Native American novel that deals in part with the adverse effects the white man has had on Native American culture, the Native Americans characters in the story are not idealized, nor are they made to appear as entirely positive characters. Along with Emo, Auntie is one of the most negative characters in the book.
Auntie is entirely preoccupied with how Laura's and Josiah's actions will affect the respect the community attributes to her family and what gossip they may spread and cares very little for their welfare.
This is in part due to the fact that Auntie is a devout Christian who thrives on a narrow and warped interpretation of the concept of martyrdom and suffering. In her understanding of martyrdom, she will gain the respect of her peers if she is seen to suffer for the sins of others, namely Laura and Josiah. It is in this spirit that she raises Tayo, rather than out of any love for him or any sense of the Native American concept of family which typically extends beyond the norms of the nuclear family. Therefore, she is not necessarily filled with resentment or simmering hatred toward Tayo, but she rather uses the sins of her daughter as a tool to cause herself to appear noble for suffering due to the sins of others.
Notably, even though Auntie is a highly problematic character who causes a great deal of unnecessary problems in Tayo's life, she is not demonized by Silko. This suggests that Auntie’s misunderstanding of the Christian tradition is the result of the same clashing of cultures that affects every character in the novel.
Almost all contact between Native Americans and white people in this novel results in destruction for American Indian culture as a whole. Whites are constantly either maliciously or unthinkingly causing harm both to their community and to their individual pride. Indian women are forced into prostitution a la Tayo's mother or Helen Jean, whom Silko apparentally intended to represent all the Native American women to which this actually happened. Indian men fared no better, garnering little if any respect from the white community, and even then only when they were wearing American military uniforms, showing that they were willing to work with the whites to defend and support the whites' vision of a better America. The most blatantly offensive exploitation of Native Americans in the novel, however, is the Indian "ceremonial" put on by white people in the town of Gallup. Whites here are eager to praise their culture as a whole but are unable to come to terms with any one Native American man or woman on an individual basis. Tayo embodies the outcome of the only situation wherein it is acceptable for one white person to encounter one Indian person privately: during sexual intercourse. He is, therefore, one of the very few instances in the book where something good (human life) springs from a meeting between Native Americans and white people. Whether he meant to or not, this unknown white man worked together with Tayo's Indian mother to create a productive thing, a healthy son who went on to fight for their country in World War II. Tayo's hazel eyes represent this symbiotic relationship perfectly: his mother's brown eyes (Native American heritage) combine with his father's green eyes (or green-eye genes) to form his hazel ones, creating the most recognizable mark of miscegenation on Tayo's body. Silko uses the color of his eyes to show that whites and American Indians do not have to clash with one another. Not only can they coexist, they can work together to build beautiful things that can benefit both of their cultures, like Tayo does when he fights for both his Indian friends/family and for white America in the Phillipines, in the final great American war.
Fragmentation, Confusion
One of the most interesting aspects of the book to me is how the structure and the plot of the novel seem to parallel and guide each other. We talked about the element of fragmentation that seems pervasive in the book and Tayo's confusion and inability to fuse together the broken pieces of his mind.
Tayo is a broken individual. Both before the war and after, he has been living a life conflicted by the multiple facets and oppositions--he is the child of a white and Native American union, he is living in both a modern and traditional era, he has to deal with the death of his cousin. He resides in a position similar to Antonio Márez and must figure out how to sort out these seemingly irreconcilable oppositions in order to proceed with his life.
The structure of the book, I have to admit, has been confusing me. I lose track of who is telling the story and if I am reading a recollection or a present moment. The nonlinear format seems to encourage this jarring feeling; I can feel Tayo's disjointed stream of consciousness as though it is my own. The short paragraphs interspersed with the longer ones, the lack of chapters, the sporadic myths--each of these reveal a personality on another level by going beyond just the content of the plot and characterization.
Modernist fiction contains these exact same elements. Fragmentation and disillusionment are common themes and, like Tayo, stem from a similar source: the search for meaning and spirit in the face of great dehumanization. How does one find meaning in a world that does not seem to offer it? The answer comes in the form of the traditional. Essentially, Tayo must look back to his Laguna roots in order to heal his mental rift.
Tayo is a broken individual. Both before the war and after, he has been living a life conflicted by the multiple facets and oppositions--he is the child of a white and Native American union, he is living in both a modern and traditional era, he has to deal with the death of his cousin. He resides in a position similar to Antonio Márez and must figure out how to sort out these seemingly irreconcilable oppositions in order to proceed with his life.
The structure of the book, I have to admit, has been confusing me. I lose track of who is telling the story and if I am reading a recollection or a present moment. The nonlinear format seems to encourage this jarring feeling; I can feel Tayo's disjointed stream of consciousness as though it is my own. The short paragraphs interspersed with the longer ones, the lack of chapters, the sporadic myths--each of these reveal a personality on another level by going beyond just the content of the plot and characterization.
Modernist fiction contains these exact same elements. Fragmentation and disillusionment are common themes and, like Tayo, stem from a similar source: the search for meaning and spirit in the face of great dehumanization. How does one find meaning in a world that does not seem to offer it? The answer comes in the form of the traditional. Essentially, Tayo must look back to his Laguna roots in order to heal his mental rift.
Myths and Curses
After reading the myth on pages 132-138 that Silko supposedly made up, there was one thing that I found particularly interesting. In this myth, the coming of the white man to America is explained as being the result of something that the native Americans did. The myth opens by explaining that "in the beginning there where no white people in this world...and this world may have gone on like that except for one thing: witchery" (132-133). The myth then tells of a conference of witches from all tribes who have gathered to show off their skills. When one tells the others, "What I have is a story," they laugh. This unnamed witch then proceeds to tell the story of the coming of the white man and the effect they will have on their lives. As he explained beforehand, this story will begin to happen as he tells it. It is implied here that the arrival of Europeans on American soil - and the destruction that they cause - is the fault of the witches of the Native American tribes. There is no clear answer given as to why the tribes are being punished in such a way. It is possible that it is due to their competitiveness and attempts to outdo each other in their horrid acts of witchcraft. A reason that I find to be more suitable is the witches disregard for the power of myth and stories. The prophesying witch does not unleash his curse/story until after he is laughed at for suggesting it amongst all of the powerful and dreadful acts of witchcraft going on. This makes me think that this myth is not actually intended to imply that the coming of white men to America and all of the terrible things that ensue is the fault of the Native Americans, but rather it is an exhibition and possibly a warning of the power that a myth can contain. Perhaps the author is trying to stress the fact that Native Americans may not be facing the troubles that they currently are if they had only realized the power of their mythology and tried harder to preserve it.
The Invention of Myth
Silko's origin myth on page 132-138 represents the idea that everything comes from something. Throughout the novel the white man is deemed a negative, foreign, destructive character; however, in the origin myth it is revealed that an Indian witch created the White man. Therefore the White man is the product of Indian folklore and beliefs. If the reader considers this myth to be factual (whether or not Silko intended it to be) then the Indians are ultimately the Creators. Therefore, the White man and the Indians have a relationship similar to an artist and his painting. The White man is a work of art, or a product of his environment. He is created by an Indian witch and therefore he taken the form which was given to him by his creator. Much as how the style of a painting reflects the artist. Essentially the painting and the artist as well as the Indian and the White man are connected. Silko's inventive myth serves as a link connecting the Indians and the white men in a spiritual and mythic sense.
Considering the white man's origin in a mythic sense, it is important to note that the witch in Silko's invented myth reveals the cruse of the white man through a story. This emphasizes the power of oral tradition which is often associated with the recollection of myths. The revelation of the white man story also demonstrates the power of language. In the beginning of the book Ceremony, Silko opens the book with the mythic character Thought Woman and, "whatever she thinks about appears" (Silko 1). Silko then relates Thought Woman to the narrative of the novel, "I'm telling you the story she is thinking" (Silko 1). This quotation ties together different aspects found in the book: myth and narrative. Ultimately Silko blends the mythic with the narrative form within her novel and thus she is able to create a "fictional" myth, such as the one reference on page 132, and portray it as a plausible origin story for the emergence of the White man.
Considering the white man's origin in a mythic sense, it is important to note that the witch in Silko's invented myth reveals the cruse of the white man through a story. This emphasizes the power of oral tradition which is often associated with the recollection of myths. The revelation of the white man story also demonstrates the power of language. In the beginning of the book Ceremony, Silko opens the book with the mythic character Thought Woman and, "whatever she thinks about appears" (Silko 1). Silko then relates Thought Woman to the narrative of the novel, "I'm telling you the story she is thinking" (Silko 1). This quotation ties together different aspects found in the book: myth and narrative. Ultimately Silko blends the mythic with the narrative form within her novel and thus she is able to create a "fictional" myth, such as the one reference on page 132, and portray it as a plausible origin story for the emergence of the White man.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The Spirtuality of Sexuality
After talking about the perverse myth on pages 57-59 today I began to think that maybe sexuality and intercourse offer a sort of spiritual revelation necessary to complete Tayo's larger ceremony. Throughout Ceremony, Tayo gains a sort of security and spiritual affirmation through his various sexual experiences. We first see Tayo with Night Swan. The vivid description of the intercourse indicates that the occurrence holds great significance. Within the experience, Tayo delivers a physical message to Night Swan, while Tayo gains a sort of clarity that he cannot identify at first. However, when Tayo sleeps with Ts'eh, he clearly gains comfort both physically mentally. No longer does Tayo get nauseous, nor does he feel invisible within his own world. It is through Ts'eh physical love that Tayo discovers " the people were strong, the fifth world endured, and nothing was ever lost as long as the love remained." (220) I believe that it is this idea of love that pervades Tayo's modern ceremony. From love, he will achieve spiritual and mental satisfaction. I am curious how everyone else interprets these sexual interactions, especially considering both of these women can be interepreted as manifestation of Thought-Woman.
Mixed Blood and Hazel Eyes -- a further discussion
Christina was talking about mixed blood and its significance in mixing cultures, beliefs, and heritage; in this discussion, she briefly mentioned the importance of hazel eyes. Within the novel Ceremony, I think this small detail is extremely important. First, it points out people to pay attention to: Tayo, obviously, as the protagonist; Betonie, as a guide for Tayo; and last, the Night Swan, who though she does not have hazel eyes herself, she works for her children, who do. Within the novel, eye color represents not only openness and spirituality, as Christina has shown, but a progressive change to what Silko, at least, believes as a better world.
I think this can also be considered part of the structural element of the novel. Of course, this isn't in the way that Mike has discussed, which points out the structural significance of various terms, but in the actual structure of the novel. The most progressive, helpful, and accepting people that Tayo meets are those with hazel eyes. As a protagonist who is trying to find acceptance both within himself and within the world he is a part of, this is an important structural construction. Tayo seems lost within the world: he cannot seem to find the peace necessary to move on from the pain he feels from the war, Rocky's death, the drought he believes he has caused, etc. In this struggle, it is those with hazel eyes that guide him, and I think it is this structure / detail which could potentially foreshadow Tayo's eventual acceptance of himself and reconciliation with the cultures and feelings he is torn between.
I think this can also be considered part of the structural element of the novel. Of course, this isn't in the way that Mike has discussed, which points out the structural significance of various terms, but in the actual structure of the novel. The most progressive, helpful, and accepting people that Tayo meets are those with hazel eyes. As a protagonist who is trying to find acceptance both within himself and within the world he is a part of, this is an important structural construction. Tayo seems lost within the world: he cannot seem to find the peace necessary to move on from the pain he feels from the war, Rocky's death, the drought he believes he has caused, etc. In this struggle, it is those with hazel eyes that guide him, and I think it is this structure / detail which could potentially foreshadow Tayo's eventual acceptance of himself and reconciliation with the cultures and feelings he is torn between.
mixed blood
There is an interesting correlation in the book between having mixed blood and being more spiritually connected to the past or to earth than the Indians with pure blood. Tayo constantly imagines his connections to the earth. When he's peeing in the bar, he imagines the liquid rejoining the world's water supply. The Night Swan is Mexican but has mixed children. The has a strong connection to her family and its latter generations and says that she dances for her granddaughters now. She left Mexico when there was a drought, but a connection to nature made her take down roots in the Laguna town--she connected to the mountain. Both Tayo and Betonie, a deeply spiritual Indian medicine man, have hazel eyes. Betonie had a Mexican grandmother, and maybe the slight mixing of his blood has opened his eyes to other cultures and helped him connect to the earth better. He collects lots of artifacts and objects from the past, from other medicine men, but also objects from the white culture as well, to gain a better and more complete understanding of the past. He is a bit strange, but quite wise, and when compared with Koosh, the medicine man who attempts to heal Tayo at the beginning of the book, is clearly more open and enlightened. Koosh's language was old fashioned and he stuck adamantly with the old traditional ways. Although he heals Tayo enough to help the boy eat again, Tayo knows he can have no understanding of modern warfare and killing distant enemy without knowing the results of one's shot. The mixing of cultures biologically seems to have a strong positive correlation with the openness and spirituality of characters.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Tayo's Battle Fatigue and the Limits of Structuralism
The limits of structuralism’s distinction between signifier and signified can be seen in the evolution of language concerning the emotional state of veterans like Tayo. Tayo is conscious about how he feels empty inside. What is he missing? We don’t quite know; maybe innocence. Despite feeling empty, he also feels guilt for not protecting his symbolic brother, Rocky. He also experiences flashbacks, like how crunchy food makes him think of skulls crushed in the jungle. These all can be symptoms of what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder. Besides the survivors of war, many others experience this same disorder: children who’ve survived extreme trauma and survivors of sexual violence. In the context of war survivors, the terminology we use has lengthened in terms of syllables – specifically since WWI. In WW I, the sickness which results from the horrors of war was called “Shell Shock.” It is two syllables, direct, in your face, and harsh. Tayo and others who fought in the Second World War are also described as experiencing shell shock, but also a different thing called battle fatigue. This phrase has four syllables, so it’s longer, and does not have the blunt rhetorical force of “shell shock.” Starting with Vietnam veterans in the 1970s, the language further lengthened to post-traumatic stress syndrome (7 syllables) and finally settling on post-traumatic stress disorder (8 syllables).
Two questions are in order: why has the language changed and what is the effect of the change? The language change mirrors a more technical understanding of psychological trauma. But is also dampens the rhetorical effect of the diagnosis. Shell shock is, rhetorically, a much more severe phrase than post-traumatic stress disorder. Even though our psychological understanding of the disease has become more clear, our linguistic expression has become more convoluted. I heard a comedian, maybe George Carlin, first make this observation and I think he’s on to something. By comparing several terms (signifiers), shell shock, battle fatigue, Post-traumatic stress disorder with the experience of traumatic psychological war stress (signified), you can see that shell shock feels comparatively closer to what’s signified than a phrase like PTSD. There are times when a comparison of various signifiers with what’s signified can show that some signifiers are more or less inherently related to the signified.
-Mike
Two questions are in order: why has the language changed and what is the effect of the change? The language change mirrors a more technical understanding of psychological trauma. But is also dampens the rhetorical effect of the diagnosis. Shell shock is, rhetorically, a much more severe phrase than post-traumatic stress disorder. Even though our psychological understanding of the disease has become more clear, our linguistic expression has become more convoluted. I heard a comedian, maybe George Carlin, first make this observation and I think he’s on to something. By comparing several terms (signifiers), shell shock, battle fatigue, Post-traumatic stress disorder with the experience of traumatic psychological war stress (signified), you can see that shell shock feels comparatively closer to what’s signified than a phrase like PTSD. There are times when a comparison of various signifiers with what’s signified can show that some signifiers are more or less inherently related to the signified.
-Mike
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Tayo's mother vs. Rocky
I would like to discuss further the similarities and double standards present in this book concerning the respect versus hatred of the white mans world. For example, Tayo’s mother’s abandonment of Tayo and Rocky’s complete dismissal of all of the traditional Laguna beliefs and practices are both done, by the individual person, in an attempt to enter the white mans world and leave their past to hopefully life a life of wider prospects. They were, however, treated quite differently during their lives as well as after their deaths. Tayo’s mother was viewed as a loose woman who had no respect for herself in her life and viewed perhaps in a worse light upon abandoning her child at her sister’s home. It must be understood, and I believe this may be what Silko is trying to tell her reader through Tayo, that Tayo’s mother was just trying to make a better life for herself but failed because of circumstances outside of her control. Rocky, who has no respect for his family or beliefs, is able to get away with anything throughout his life even blatantly disrespecting his grandmother. Rocky is no less revered by his family after his death despite the things he said and did not do for his family during his life in order to be more a part of the new white society in New Mexico. I think this is an odd contradiction in this book by Silko that either the reader or Tayo, through his own enlightenment about his mixed blood, will be able to answer at the close of this novel.
Helen Jean
Although having a comparably small part in Ceremony, the character Helen Jean is important as she is representative of many of the young Native American women who cross over into the white community. Silko introduces Helen Jean as a woman who Harley and Leroy pick up at the bar while they are out drinking. She is described as wearing “tight blue western pants and a frilly pink western blouse.” And although she does not say anything when she first comes onto the scene, she interacts with Leroy by “rubbing her leg against [him], but staring out the window as she did it, as if her mind were somewhere else” (p. 144). Like Tayo’s mother, Helen Jean left the reservation and tried to assimilate into the white man’s culture in hopes of more career opportunities and a better life. Helen Jean appeared to be full of hope in the beginning, yet because of outside circumstances (mainly the context of Gallup, NM) her dreams do not come to fruition. Helen Jean is symbolic of the larger group of young Native American women, who despite having good intentions, get sucked into a life of alcoholism and prostitution, thus being dependent on the white man in order to survive.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Follow-up to Class Tuesday
I just want to respond to two comments/questions from class:
1. Daniel asked how significant hunting was to the diets of the Pueblos. I've just done a little research and found that the hunting of such game as deer and rabbit was a supplement to the growing of crops and the gathering of nuts and berries.
2. I want to apologize to Mike who said that Momaday was from New Mexico and I corrected him and said Oklahoma. Momaday was born in Oklahoma and spent much of his adulthood there since that is the homeland of the Kiowas, but Mike was right that Momaday spent a lot of his childhood in New Mexico, specifically on and around the Pueblos, that of the Jemez. He also went to the same college as Silko, though years earlier: the University of New Mexico.
See you Thursday!
1. Daniel asked how significant hunting was to the diets of the Pueblos. I've just done a little research and found that the hunting of such game as deer and rabbit was a supplement to the growing of crops and the gathering of nuts and berries.
2. I want to apologize to Mike who said that Momaday was from New Mexico and I corrected him and said Oklahoma. Momaday was born in Oklahoma and spent much of his adulthood there since that is the homeland of the Kiowas, but Mike was right that Momaday spent a lot of his childhood in New Mexico, specifically on and around the Pueblos, that of the Jemez. He also went to the same college as Silko, though years earlier: the University of New Mexico.
See you Thursday!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Fifth Blog Post Assignment
Here are some jumping off points that you may or may not refer to when you share your ideas, questions, confusions about Ceremony. Please do so any time before noon on 3/25.
1. What do you think of the myth (which Silko claims to have invented) on p. 132-138?
2. What's the significance of hazel eyes in the book?
3. Who's Helen Jean, and what is she doing in Ceremony?
4. What's Auntie's beef?
5. What kind of person is Rocky?
6. Why does Tayo's mother leave him?
1. What do you think of the myth (which Silko claims to have invented) on p. 132-138?
2. What's the significance of hazel eyes in the book?
3. Who's Helen Jean, and what is she doing in Ceremony?
4. What's Auntie's beef?
5. What kind of person is Rocky?
6. Why does Tayo's mother leave him?
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Flannery O'Connor and Salman Rushdie
This Monday evening, Salman Rushdie will be discussing the film adaptation of Flannery O'Connor's first novel, Wise Blood, which will then be screened. Since we're reading her short story next week (and since it's a great opportunity to hear Salman Rushdie discuss anything), I thought you all might like to check it out. It starts at 8pm and will take place in White Hall 208.
Here's the website with more information:
http://www.emory.edu/home/news/releases/2009/02/rushdie-to-give-lecture-at-emory.html#film
Here's the website with more information:
http://www.emory.edu/home/news/releases/2009/02/rushdie-to-give-lecture-at-emory.html#film
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress"
See line # 10 for Philip Roth's short story title
Andrew Marvell, 1621–1678
To His Coy Mistress
Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime
We would sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love's day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side 5
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews. 10
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow;
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast, 15
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, Lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate. 20
But at my back I always hear
Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found, 25
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song: then worms shall try
That long preserved virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust: 30
The grave 's a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires 35
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapt power. 40
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life:
Thus, though we cannot make our sun 45
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
Andrew Marvell, 1621–1678
To His Coy Mistress
Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime
We would sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love's day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side 5
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews. 10
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow;
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast, 15
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, Lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate. 20
But at my back I always hear
Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found, 25
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song: then worms shall try
That long preserved virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust: 30
The grave 's a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires 35
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapt power. 40
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life:
Thus, though we cannot make our sun 45
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Fourth Blog Post
When reading Rudolfo Anaya’s article, I could not help noticing the Eliadean word choice smattered here and there throughout the article. This inspired me to conduct a reading with an Eliadean lens. Anaya writes that, “The pueblo or town where once the group gathered to conduct both business and ceremony had become chaotic urban sprawl. The center has been lost” (italics added) (197). This is strongly reminiscent of Eliade’s notion of a spiritual center connecting a people to a corresponding spiritual realm. Anaya also writes that, “No wonder the time is disharmonious….We know it has changed, and we feel we have lost something important to our nature.…we leave our connections behind, we forget the sacred places and become part of the new reality” (198). In Bless Me, Ultima, Antonio is part of this disharmony. His father’s family which identifies with the sea and his mother’s family which identifies with the moon are constantly at odds. This draws attention to the fact that the moon and the sea usually work in harmony with one another, but in the current and changing times, they are only capable of producing discord in the form of Antonio’s two warring halves: the vaquero and the farmer.
Fourth Blog
I agree with Joanne's post about the shift on Anaya's part from religious tension to political tension in "The Myth of Queztalcoatl." The tensions in Antonio's life between Spanish heritage and indegenous heritage, Catholicism and indegenous beliefs, make up the continual struggle of the novel itself. However, unlike Antonio's feelings of tension in "Bless Me, Ultima," in his essay Anaya makes it clear which side he is rooting for. Much of the conflict in "Bless Me, Ultima" is driven by Antonio's inability to decide between his mother and father, between the Virgen de Guadalupe and the golden carp. In "The Myth of Queztacoatl" Anaya leaves no room for ambivalence. He does feel that the Southwest is being pulled in two directions, but he comes down firmly on one side of the issue. Anaya firmly believes that the traditions of the Native Americans and Latinos of the Southwest, the "earth people" are being trampled under the rapid development, commodification, and commercialization of a materialist culture. Sixteen years after "Bless Me, Ultima," Anaya has moved on to a new struggle, but unlike Antonio, in 1988 he knows which side he's fighting for.
Fourth Blog Post
Anaya's article "The Myth of Quetzalcoatl" emphasizes the political, social and environmental implications of how forgetting the "mythic landscape" can lead to the destruction and the phasing out of a rich culture.
Anaya very clearly views the earth around his as some sort of sustaining force, both physically and mentally. Emphasizing the latter in his article, Anaya is making a case for nature and the way it can provide a powerful creative source for individuals. Mentioning Bless Me Ultima, Anaya writes that he was still tied to "the people and the earth of the Pecos River Valley, the small town of Santa Rosa, the villages of Puerto de Luna and Pastura" (197) when he wrote the novel; this is indicated by the pervasive and powerful presence of nature in the book. We see Antonio communing with the land around him, drawing knowledge and strength and wonder. Outside, while the war has ended, its fingers have reached the town through Antonio's brothers as a vehicle of destruction, a bringer of "war-sickness". Even then I think Anaya was aware of the way politics and material greed can uproot and displace people, making them forget their duty and connection to the land and their constant longing for a dream that may not exist.
Anaya calls out to other authors about drawing attention to this problem. The complicated knot between materiality, environmental ruin and the abuse of his people through politics are all symptoms of the same disease, a disease that stems from a disconnect with one's roots. He hopes to use writing to emphasize his stance and to illuminate those who may not know and possibly spur them to action.
Anaya very clearly views the earth around his as some sort of sustaining force, both physically and mentally. Emphasizing the latter in his article, Anaya is making a case for nature and the way it can provide a powerful creative source for individuals. Mentioning Bless Me Ultima, Anaya writes that he was still tied to "the people and the earth of the Pecos River Valley, the small town of Santa Rosa, the villages of Puerto de Luna and Pastura" (197) when he wrote the novel; this is indicated by the pervasive and powerful presence of nature in the book. We see Antonio communing with the land around him, drawing knowledge and strength and wonder. Outside, while the war has ended, its fingers have reached the town through Antonio's brothers as a vehicle of destruction, a bringer of "war-sickness". Even then I think Anaya was aware of the way politics and material greed can uproot and displace people, making them forget their duty and connection to the land and their constant longing for a dream that may not exist.
Anaya calls out to other authors about drawing attention to this problem. The complicated knot between materiality, environmental ruin and the abuse of his people through politics are all symptoms of the same disease, a disease that stems from a disconnect with one's roots. He hopes to use writing to emphasize his stance and to illuminate those who may not know and possibly spur them to action.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
4th Blog Post
I was most interested, when reading Anaya's article "The Myth of Queztalcoatl" in the first and second paragraphs of this article. I was immediately struck by his use of language by using such words as "compete," "past," and "changed" when referring to the difference between the "mythical dimensions of [his] region" as compared to the "political reality of the region." Although Anaya was writing this article 16 years after Bless Me, Ultima, I found that this idea of competition between the ideas of the past contradicting to the ideas and needs of the future to finally clarify one of the key ideas in Bless Me, Ultima. This contradiction between the past and future, in Bless Me, Ultima, seems to be much more focused on religion rather than politics. The idea that I walked away with after finishing this novel was that Antonio had found his path not by choosing one over another but by realizing that he lived in a new time that required a new type of faith and religion and that he was going to bravely take on this challenge. This new battle Antonio takes on at the end of the novel to change the perception of religion in his town is very similar and definitely parallel to Anaya's motives in his description of his political goals in this article.
Fourth Blog assignment
To test the “provide your own question” option, I’m writing about the reception of Bless Me, Ultima (BMU) by concerned parents in public schools.
http://www.abffe.com/bbw-ppmc-35.htm
This first link will take you to a website generated by concerned citizens in Fayetteville, Arkansas who want 35 books removed from the library. This list includes BMU, which happened to have been on Laura Bush’s top ten novels list. It’s also in the top 100 for most frequently banned books.
Parents or other concerned citizens find “controversial” passages in popular books, place them on the website, and encourage you to sign the petition. The passage isolated from BMU is the incident where Tony is forced to hear the other kids’ confessions. This includes the story of a boy who looked into the women’s restroom and where Florence says, “It was God who sinned against me.” But the opposition to this book is not just in Arkansas.
In Norwood, Colorado, the Superintendent of Schools banned BMU without even reading it. He relied solely on excerpts from concerned parents, but he felt well informed enough to say, “It’s less a matter of censorship than sponsorship. That’s not the kind of garbage I want to sponsor at this school.” The superintendent and/or the janitor reportedly took 32 copies of the book and threw them in a trash can.
http://www.abffe.com/bbw-blessme2.htm
http://www.abffe.com/bbw-blessme.htm
Why is this book objectionable? Detractors cite foul language, sexually explicit imagery, and the glorification of death and pagan culture.
My question is this: If you were the principal, would you ban this book from middle-schoolers? If yes, why? If not, are there any books you would intentionally keep out of the library? If there are kinds, which ones and why? Language, sexuality, or religious issues? Because we are currently studying myth, how far can myth go before being inappropriate for middle-schoolers?
-Mike
http://www.abffe.com/bbw-ppmc-35.htm
This first link will take you to a website generated by concerned citizens in Fayetteville, Arkansas who want 35 books removed from the library. This list includes BMU, which happened to have been on Laura Bush’s top ten novels list. It’s also in the top 100 for most frequently banned books.
Parents or other concerned citizens find “controversial” passages in popular books, place them on the website, and encourage you to sign the petition. The passage isolated from BMU is the incident where Tony is forced to hear the other kids’ confessions. This includes the story of a boy who looked into the women’s restroom and where Florence says, “It was God who sinned against me.” But the opposition to this book is not just in Arkansas.
In Norwood, Colorado, the Superintendent of Schools banned BMU without even reading it. He relied solely on excerpts from concerned parents, but he felt well informed enough to say, “It’s less a matter of censorship than sponsorship. That’s not the kind of garbage I want to sponsor at this school.” The superintendent and/or the janitor reportedly took 32 copies of the book and threw them in a trash can.
http://www.abffe.com/bbw-blessme2.htm
http://www.abffe.com/bbw-blessme.htm
Why is this book objectionable? Detractors cite foul language, sexually explicit imagery, and the glorification of death and pagan culture.
My question is this: If you were the principal, would you ban this book from middle-schoolers? If yes, why? If not, are there any books you would intentionally keep out of the library? If there are kinds, which ones and why? Language, sexuality, or religious issues? Because we are currently studying myth, how far can myth go before being inappropriate for middle-schoolers?
-Mike
Blog Response
At the end of her post, Dom summarized what I believe to be a major theme of Bless me, Ultima: throughout the novel, Antonio attempts to find balance and harmony; in other words, he tries to find the middle ground between the dichotomies of his life. This middle ground attempts to reconcile the juxtaposing dreams of his mother and father, the differing ideologies of two religions (that of Christianity and that of the myths he is exposed to), and two vastly different approaches to the world (the retreat into myth and the advancement into a materialistic world). It is this last juxtaposing view I think Anaya discusses in his essay. He mentions that many younger generations are moving out and becoming urban dwellers, while the older generations have withdrawn “to their circles of belief to wait out the storm” (199). I see theme strongly represented in BMU. The younger generation, as represented by Antonio’s sisters (who only speak English) and his brothers (who have moved out to make their fortune in gambling, etc.), is strongly contrasted against the older generation (the father who wants to work the land and move back to the llano, the mother who wants Antonio to be a priest and represent their Lunas heritage). I see Antonio as Anaya’s middle ground—the boy who is trying to find where he fits in when the new world and the old world clash.
Fourth Blog Response
Myth plays a prominent role in Bless Me, Ultima by providing cultural background pertinent to the novel (as well as giving readers information on Mexican-American culture) and by helping to develop the character, Antonio. One of the basic myths in Meso-America is the myth of Queztalcoatl, which focuses heavily on the idea of unity, just as the theme of unity runs strong in Bless Me, Ultima. This notion clearly comes across in chapter four. An example of this is Ultima’s dealings with “magic” and in her beliefs that all things in this world are interrelated. It is also interesting that according to Aztec belief, the fifth age of the world (which Antonio often dreams about) stands for balance, and is ruled over by the god Quetzalcoatl. This relates to the novel as the significance of balance in the world, particularly through Antonio, cannot be stressed enough. Throughout most of the novel, Antonio attempts to create a balance and harmony among almost all aspects of his life to include family (especially trying to please both his mother and father) and in his religious ideologies.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Fourth Blog Post Assignment
To be answered in (about) 250 words by all students whose last names begin with letters N-Z by noon Monday. Even though we haven't yet made the switch to the new-and-improved blog assignments, please still read each other's posts. If other students have posted before you, feel free to respond in your post or add a comment below their posts.
Don't feel the need to respond to all of these questions, or even any of them. They are just to get the ball rolling:
What interests you about Anaya's article "The Myth of Queztalcoatl"? What is he so concerned about? What does he prescribe for dealing with the problems being faced at the moment he is writing (1988, 16 years after Bless Me, Ultima)? Do you see his concerns in 1988 as different from or similar to those expressed in Bless Me, Ultima?
Don't feel the need to respond to all of these questions, or even any of them. They are just to get the ball rolling:
What interests you about Anaya's article "The Myth of Queztalcoatl"? What is he so concerned about? What does he prescribe for dealing with the problems being faced at the moment he is writing (1988, 16 years after Bless Me, Ultima)? Do you see his concerns in 1988 as different from or similar to those expressed in Bless Me, Ultima?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Bless Me Ultima
In the novel Antonio does not have a clear identity. He only sees "parts" of himself, his mother's side the Luna clan and then he has his father's side, the Marez clan. Both families offer Antonio different aspects of his identity, the Marez clan is supposedly freethinkers, which Antonio's mother deems sinful. The freethinking correlates with Antonio, especially when both his mother and Ultima mention he is inquisitive. The Luna clan is more religious and thus Antonio's mother constantly worries about Antonio's purity and potential prieshood. We learn that Antonio's parents both have separate desires for his future. His mother wants him to go into the Church and become a priest, while his father wants Antonio to become a cowboy. What Ultima tells Antonio is that he is only seeing parts of himself and his life. Holistically Antonio is the median for his parents, he is the combination of the moon and the sea and he as at an age where he does not have to chose an identity just yet. Although Antonio dreams of going with his brothers to be a cowboy, his brothers prevent him by saying in his dream that Antonio is the hope for their mother. Ultimately, Ultima wants Antonio to see that the moon and the sea, although they pull at each other,the spiritual mind is not separate from bodily desires and emotions. With this in mind Antonio must realize that he can live in harmony with different bloods.
(I know I posted late, I am apologize, and I will post next week as well to compensate)
Jareen Imam
(I know I posted late, I am apologize, and I will post next week as well to compensate)
Jareen Imam
I Am Joaquin
Here is the link to the poem I mentioned last Thursday. It's by Corky (Rudolfo) Gonzales. It really sums up a lot of the feelings behind the Chicano Movement, especially the need to connect to an indigenous culture and past. Enjoy!
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/latinos/joaquin.htm
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/latinos/joaquin.htm
Monday, February 16, 2009
Bless Me, Ultima
While reading the others’ posts, I noticed that everyone had the similar idea that Ultima’s advice to Antonio dealt with his struggle between becoming a Luna or a Marez. I particularly agree with Daniel’s comment that Antonio should not consider these two paths of life as being “mutually exclusive.” To go off of Daniel’s point, what I like most about Antonio’s dream comes before Ultima’s calming truth. Ultima speaks to Antonio’s mother and father and says, “the sweet water of the moon which falls as rain is the same water that gathers into rivers and flows to fill the seas” (121), and she continues on to explain why both are necessary for the survival of the other. Through this analogy, she seems to reprimand and remind Antonio’s parents about the necessity of both of their ways of life. As the reader, this reminder to Antonio’s parents appears to be more substantial in soothing Antonio’s nerves. If Antonio can find peace in the truth that the world is a “great cycle that binds us all” (121), his parents should be able to recognize the importance of both the Luna and Marez way of life to create a complete and uncompetitive home environment for Antonio. Since, though, this seems unlikely it is important for Antonio to understand the unity of the world, which appears to be the intended message for Antonio. Ultima realizes his parents will continue to disagree, and her advice tries to negate and diffuse this tension.
"Bless Me, Ultima" Response
Throughout most of Bless Me, Ultima, Antonio is torn between two different ways of thinking. The foremost idea over which he is divided is that of religion. He is not fully certain of how to reconcile what he has been taught by the Catholic Church and the indigenous beliefs held by some people in his community, especially Ultima. This situation is exacerbated by another dilemma that Antonio faces, brought on by the varying nature of his parent. His mother comes from a religious family who work as docile farmers. His father’s family is quite the opposite as they are prone to wander the wilderness and avoid being restrained. The names of his parents’ families bear this discrepancy with his mother’s being “Luna” and his father’s “Márez” (luna means “moon” and mar means “sea.”) The Lunas are steady and reliable like the moon whereas the Márez’s are wild and unpredictable like the sea. With all these forces pulling Antonio in opposite directions, the words spoken by Ultima in his dream, “You have been seeing only parts…and not looking beyond into the great cycle that binds us all,” seems to suggest that he should not think of everything as being mutually exclusive. He should learn to live with all aspects of his life and not choose just one way. It is very possible for him to find a way to fuse all the varying opinions that are present in his family and community. Ultima is saying to him that the entire world is bound together and while some things may seem to be opposites they may be more alike than he thinks.
Antonio's crises
Antonio is growing up and faces not only a crisis of faith, but is also torn by his familial duties. His mother wants him to be a man of learning, and ideally a priest, like his Luna ancestors. His father, however, wants him to be an adventurer like the rest of the Marez clan. When his brothers return from war but then leave, his father becomes more desolate, realizing his dream may never come true. The family’s future lies in Antonio, and the pressure weights heavily upon him.
Although he had believed he was to be a priest, he finds himself questioning his Catholic faith more and more by the day. When Ultima cures his Uncle Lucas when no doctor or priest could, he wonders if Ultima’s powers and those of curanderas are stronger than the power of God. When Cico shows him the great golden carp, its presence stirs him, and he finds himself wondering about the truth in the myth of the carp people and his city’s impending apocalyptic return to the sea. He hopes that his first communion will live up to these miracles, but he is beginning to have doubts.
Antonio’s prophetic dreams turn nightmarish. He dreams that the end has come and he is being torn between his beliefs and does not know which way to turn. Ultima, as usual, grounds him and tells him that his scope of focus has been too small. Maybe it doesn’t matter what one believes in as long as his or her faith in it is strong and it serves as a driving force. As long as Antonio stays true to himself and his spirituality stays strong, no matter his specific beliefs, he will be fine.
Bless Me, Ultima response
In the passage preceding Ultima's grand claim that Tony has been "seeing only parts...and not looking beyond into the great cycle that binds us all" (121), she tells Gabriel and Maria a story about earth's water cycle. She intends to persuade them to cease their useless bickering that up to this point has been tearing Tony's seven year-old conscience into two. None of this is actually taking place in real time, however, and so the message Ultima speaks here is really meant for Tony's ears and not for his parents who will probably continue to attempt to use their son to attain their own personal, unrealized dreams. What is important is that in hearing this message Tony finally undestands what Ultima ultimately stands for. She is the unifying piece in his life, the one person in this story who pulls the spiritual puzzle pieces together into a single, coherent picture for him. She alone combines the Catholic faith with Native American beliefs to shed light on an overarching Chicano identity that the boy is only at this point in the story beginning to comprehend. On page 121, in the middle of one of Antonio's frequently occurring dreams, both he and those reading his story finally come to understand the significance of Ultima's magic and the role it will play for Tony and has played in shaping modern Mexican-Americans' views on religion and spirituality.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Bless Me, Ultima
Throughout the novel, Antonio constantly struggles with his identity because is caught between two worlds—the Catholic world in his mothers lineage versus the spirituality of the natural world in his father’s heritage. This rivalry comes into play when Antonio sees the golden carp on page 114. The young boy reflects, “I could not have been more entranced if I had seen the Virgin, or God Himself.” At first, Antonio compares the experience of seeing the fish to what he would expect from viewing the catholic religious figures. However, soon after, he feels guilty and thinks “If God was witness to my beholding of the golden carp then I had sinned!” (Anaya 114). Antonio struggle with his interpretation of the golden carp because on one side he has the Catholic church calling the fish a pagan god, but, at the same time, there is something very spiritually moving in the nature of the creature. Although Antonio often falls on the side of the Catholic church, he always grapples with a sense that there is a greater spirituality within nature.
However, Ultima holds the answer to Antonio’s struggles. Within a dream, she instructs him to stop viewing the world in “parts,” or the Catholic versus animism. Instead, Ultima advises the young boy to look at the “great cycle that binds us all”, which is the experience of life. In other words, Ultima promotes dissolution of the competing ideologies because they provoke warped perceptions of life. By removing the biases of the separate beliefs, Antonio will discover spiritual truths. It appears that she is telling Antonio no longer to interpret life, but to live it.
However, Ultima holds the answer to Antonio’s struggles. Within a dream, she instructs him to stop viewing the world in “parts,” or the Catholic versus animism. Instead, Ultima advises the young boy to look at the “great cycle that binds us all”, which is the experience of life. In other words, Ultima promotes dissolution of the competing ideologies because they provoke warped perceptions of life. By removing the biases of the separate beliefs, Antonio will discover spiritual truths. It appears that she is telling Antonio no longer to interpret life, but to live it.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Third Blog Post Assignment
To be answered in 250 words by all students whose last names begin with letters A-M by noon Monday. Please read each other's posts, even if it's not your week to respond, and I encourage you to add comments.
What do you think Ultima means when she says, "You have been seeing only parts [...] and not looking beyond into the great cycle that binds us all" (121)?
What do you think Ultima means when she says, "You have been seeing only parts [...] and not looking beyond into the great cycle that binds us all" (121)?
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Mid-Term Paper Assignment
Mid-Term Paper:
The Function of Myth in The Way to Rainy Mountain or Bless Me, Ultima
Due: Thursday, March 5
Writing Workshop: Thursday, February 26
Traditional myth, religion, and oral narratives are integral to both Momaday’s and Anaya’s works. For this paper, you will make an argument about how you view such narratives contributing to their projects. Choose one work to focus on and attempt to answer: What role does myth play in this work? For example, we have discussed in class how the Kiowa migration myth contributes to Momaday’s attempt to forge a narrative of identity, both for the Kiowas and for himself.
To support your argument, you should cite either Eliade’s Myth of the Eternal Return or Levi-Strauss’ “Structural Study of Myth,” or both. You can look to them to help explicate how you see myth working in Momaday’s or Anaya’s text, or you may see Momaday or Anaya complicating them.
The majority of your paper should consist of close readings as well as careful, articulate, and focused literary analysis that support your thesis statement. In other words, your task is to study the literary devices of the text (such as figurative language, character, plot, word choice, setting, description, irony, etc) in order to come to a larger understanding of the role of myth in Momaday’s or Anaya’s book. Please abstain from extensive summary.
You are welcome to do additional research, though it is not required. Of course, if you do, cite your sources in the body of your paper and include a Works Cited page. Do not cite from the Internet, though on-line library databases are fine.
Your paper should be at least seven pages in length, double-spaced, twelve-point Times New Roman font and formatted according to MLA research guidelines. Staple your workshopped paper behind your final draft.
The Function of Myth in The Way to Rainy Mountain or Bless Me, Ultima
Due: Thursday, March 5
Writing Workshop: Thursday, February 26
Traditional myth, religion, and oral narratives are integral to both Momaday’s and Anaya’s works. For this paper, you will make an argument about how you view such narratives contributing to their projects. Choose one work to focus on and attempt to answer: What role does myth play in this work? For example, we have discussed in class how the Kiowa migration myth contributes to Momaday’s attempt to forge a narrative of identity, both for the Kiowas and for himself.
To support your argument, you should cite either Eliade’s Myth of the Eternal Return or Levi-Strauss’ “Structural Study of Myth,” or both. You can look to them to help explicate how you see myth working in Momaday’s or Anaya’s text, or you may see Momaday or Anaya complicating them.
The majority of your paper should consist of close readings as well as careful, articulate, and focused literary analysis that support your thesis statement. In other words, your task is to study the literary devices of the text (such as figurative language, character, plot, word choice, setting, description, irony, etc) in order to come to a larger understanding of the role of myth in Momaday’s or Anaya’s book. Please abstain from extensive summary.
You are welcome to do additional research, though it is not required. Of course, if you do, cite your sources in the body of your paper and include a Works Cited page. Do not cite from the Internet, though on-line library databases are fine.
Your paper should be at least seven pages in length, double-spaced, twelve-point Times New Roman font and formatted according to MLA research guidelines. Staple your workshopped paper behind your final draft.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Mammedaty and Myth
In Eliade's writing, a few of the most significant aspects of the "mythicization" of a historical figure is the transition of the temporal into the eternal, the regeneration of the archetype, and the near to complete deification of the individual.
The distinct set-up of Momaday's Way to Rainy Mountain constantly refers to these ideas, especially in chapters 21 and 22. The first section of each chapter is told by a mix of voices: the voice of Momaday's father, the ancestral voice, and the voice of the Kiowa oral tradition, thereby mixing the individual (the father) with the mythical and the eternal (the Kiowa tribe and the ancestral voice). In chapter 21, Momaday's father Mammedaty appears, his persona echoing the mythical qualities of grandmother spider and Quoetotai, among many of the other characters that appear throughout the book. Mammedaty's persona recalls a statement made by Eliade: "the popular memory refuses to preserve the personal, historical elements of a hero's biography while, on the other hand, higher mystical experiences imply a final elevation of the personal God to the transpersonal God" (46).
In a way, it seems as though Momaday has inserted his father's persona in the mythic narrative and stripped him of his individuating qualities in order to elevate him to a higher level. Again, the "mythicization" of the persona seems to ensure its longevity by allowing the character of Mammedaty to settle into the collective memory (and into his archetypal roles) of the Kiowas. Chapter 21 seems to emphasize this idea--the story of the inexplicable head of the child is similar to other "strange" stories, such as the bull with metal horns. The Mammedaty's experience, made mystical by its enigmatic appearance, elevates him to the status of a mythical presence.
The distinct set-up of Momaday's Way to Rainy Mountain constantly refers to these ideas, especially in chapters 21 and 22. The first section of each chapter is told by a mix of voices: the voice of Momaday's father, the ancestral voice, and the voice of the Kiowa oral tradition, thereby mixing the individual (the father) with the mythical and the eternal (the Kiowa tribe and the ancestral voice). In chapter 21, Momaday's father Mammedaty appears, his persona echoing the mythical qualities of grandmother spider and Quoetotai, among many of the other characters that appear throughout the book. Mammedaty's persona recalls a statement made by Eliade: "the popular memory refuses to preserve the personal, historical elements of a hero's biography while, on the other hand, higher mystical experiences imply a final elevation of the personal God to the transpersonal God" (46).
In a way, it seems as though Momaday has inserted his father's persona in the mythic narrative and stripped him of his individuating qualities in order to elevate him to a higher level. Again, the "mythicization" of the persona seems to ensure its longevity by allowing the character of Mammedaty to settle into the collective memory (and into his archetypal roles) of the Kiowas. Chapter 21 seems to emphasize this idea--the story of the inexplicable head of the child is similar to other "strange" stories, such as the bull with metal horns. The Mammedaty's experience, made mystical by its enigmatic appearance, elevates him to the status of a mythical presence.
Momada and Eliade Response
First, I agree with the argument Dom presents: as far as I can tell, the intention of this narrative is to blur the lines between history and myth. Moreover, the nature of oral history is to mythecize events which may or may not be based in factual events. In my mind, the importance of this mythecization is not to record facts, however, but to maintain culture. In this way, I am most influenced by Eliade’s argument: culture is so strongly influenced by myth, which provides archetypes and models, that the oral tradition is integral to the Kiowa culture.
However, in this respect, I disagree with Joanne—or, maybe, I see Momaday’s goal in another light. Myths would not exist if someone had not created them; thus, any one from the current generation is able to mythecize any historical event, no matter how recent (Eliade reinforces that the accuracy of even the most recent events will be destroyed in light of the myth that arises). Momaday, in fact, accomplishes this very action; by mythecizing his own grandfather, he intentionally blurs the line between reality and myth. I think Joanne’s eventual point (and correct me if I’m wrong) was that Momaday intends to construct an accurate history of the Kiowa people and thus create a more relatable history. However, I believe that myths are still myths, even when recorded in this narrative; further, Momaday’s mythecization of Mommedaty creates, in fact, a less accurate history. In this light, Momaday intends to maintain the Kiowa culture rather than the history.
I’d say more, but I guess I’ll leave that for class. See you all soon.
**My understanding of the blog posts was to potentially respond to others’ posts, so this post doesn’t quite follow the form of some of the prior posts. Please let me know if this was off track, so I can better orient my posts in the future.
However, in this respect, I disagree with Joanne—or, maybe, I see Momaday’s goal in another light. Myths would not exist if someone had not created them; thus, any one from the current generation is able to mythecize any historical event, no matter how recent (Eliade reinforces that the accuracy of even the most recent events will be destroyed in light of the myth that arises). Momaday, in fact, accomplishes this very action; by mythecizing his own grandfather, he intentionally blurs the line between reality and myth. I think Joanne’s eventual point (and correct me if I’m wrong) was that Momaday intends to construct an accurate history of the Kiowa people and thus create a more relatable history. However, I believe that myths are still myths, even when recorded in this narrative; further, Momaday’s mythecization of Mommedaty creates, in fact, a less accurate history. In this light, Momaday intends to maintain the Kiowa culture rather than the history.
I’d say more, but I guess I’ll leave that for class. See you all soon.
**My understanding of the blog posts was to potentially respond to others’ posts, so this post doesn’t quite follow the form of some of the prior posts. Please let me know if this was off track, so I can better orient my posts in the future.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Momaday, Mammedaty, and Mythmaking
In the preface to The Way to Rainy Mountain, Momaday describes the first voice in each chapter as follows, “…the voice of my father, the ancestral voice, and the voice of the Kiowa oral tradition.” (ix) Two things strike me as important with this definition. First, by broadly defining the voice in this way, Momaday gives himself room to mingle narrative with myth. There is undoubtedly some history mixed in with the mythmaking contained in the Kiowa oral tradition. Second, and probably more important, he calls this first voice his father’s voice. Instead of a grandson writing whimsically about his grandfather, this is a son passing down a story about his own father. Why does Momaday’s father include this narrative/myth in the Kiowa oral tradition? Mercia Eliade talks about the symbolism of the center – typically a physical location that serves as the axis between the spiritual realm, the earth, and the lower realm/hell. I believe this symbolism of the center resides around historical persons as well as physical locations. With stories, each individual family holds onto important historic persons in order to ensure the lessons they learned can be passed on for generations. I hold onto the definition that myths are stories meant to convey Truth. What does the reader know to be true about Mammedaty from this passage? He has an important lineage – his grandfather, Guipahgo, is apparently important enough to single out by name. Also, there’s something mysterious about the land around Rainy Mountain, which happens to be the other symbolic center of Momaday’s book. Maybe Momaday’s father wants to draw a parallel between these two centering forces from his life.
Second Blog Post
By writing his grandfather, Mammedaty, into the mythic narrative section of his book, Momaday is drawing at least the specific myths of his grandfather into the camp of the archaic myth rather than the primitive myth. In providing the example of his grandfather’s mythic exploits, Momaday is attempting to call into question the category the myths of the Kiowa Indians fall within. According to Eliade, these two categories are either primitive or archaic. Primitive myths are defined by their use as a tool to escape history while archaic myths use history as a base in their creation. Several myths described by Momaday seem highly unlikely to be based upon historical truth, such as their origin myth of arriving in this world by crawling through a hollow log or the myth describing the origin of the big dipper. On the other hand, the myth describing how Quoetotai runs away with the wife of Many Bears and live among the Comanches for fifteen years could easily be rooted in history. Perhaps by writing the actions of his grandfather into myth, a much for verifiable historical series of events, Momaday hopes to firmly place at least some Kiowa myth into the camp of archaic myth by arguing that there is fact within at least some of the myths and in doing so, may preserve at least some Kiowa history. Excluding the myths describing Mammeday, Eliade would likely view this attempt skeptically as there is very little if any documented history that can be seen in the myths described by Momaday and the oral tradition of the Kiowas is fragmented at best.
Momaday and Eliade
Momaday, in my view, is attempting through the three points of view present in this book, tradition, historical, and his own personal account, to transform the myth of the Kiowa’s into a longer lasting history. This idea is supported by Momaday’s inclusion of his grandfather, Mammedaty, in the tradition or myth section of his narrative. By including a man that is not only related to his own history but deep in the collective memory and important myth of the Kiowa people, Momaday is succeeding in blurring the lines between myth and history in his own heritage. Eliade supports this idea in his statement that “an object or an act becomes real only insofar as it imitates or repeats an archetype.” Although it may be a stretch, I would like to believe that Momaday is utilizing this same principle in reverse. By inserting actual people into myth he is undoing the archetype and creating a firm history that is able to go beyond the reaches of ordinary myth. Utilizing his grandfather also serves two purposes along these same lines. The reader is simultaneously drawn to recognize that this “mythic” character is related to the author, a modern man, as well as to point to the third voice in the book of Momaday’s own experiences. As Eliade states, “a few years had sufficed to strip the event of all historical authenticity, to transform it into a legendary tale.” By once again creating a much more relatable history from these myths, Momaday is succeeding in keeping the accurate history of the Kiowa’s alive.
Second Blog Post
Despite the fact that Mammeday shows up several times in previous chapters under the historical narrative, this is not the case in chapter 21. Momaday’s purpose for including Mammedaty in a stanza usually reserved for mythic narratives may be to fuse history with myth, in order to portray the realm of myth as more lively, while blurring the lines between history and myth. After all, especially in the tradition of the Kiowa, myth is just as important as history, and the two entities are almost always interrelated as can be seen in the way Momaday carefully writes each of his pieces in The Way to Rainy Mountain. With regards to Eliade and historical figures entering the realm of myth as is the case in The Way to Rainy Mountain, I do not think he would have any objections. Eliade says that “traditional man (in this case Mammedaty) sees mythical figures as models to be imitated.” Eliade goes on to write that many societies (to include the Kiowa) believe that many of their myths were established by mythical figures, which in turn makes rituals and myths all the more important to societies. In a sense this is the case with Mammedaty, in that he is described by Momaday with such reverence that he appears almost mythical, which adds to his importance among the Kiowa people and in Kiowa myth.
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