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

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.

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.

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

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.

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?

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 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

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.

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.

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)?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Momaday and Eliade Response

Momaday’s grandfather Mammedaty appears multiple times in The Way to Rainy Mountain. He is an important man in Momaday’s and the Kiowa tribe’s history. In chapter 5 Momaday describes Mammedaty’s affinity for hunting and inability to grow cotton and wheat at his home in Oklahoma. Chapter 7 speaks of Mammedaty’s connection with horses, and hints at his skill as a hunter, and chapter 11 Mammedaty is described as a peyote man, someone who sees sacred things. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that in chapter 21 Mammedaty makes the transition from Momaday’s personal reflections and family history to the Kiowa folklore. I think that once a person’s history becomes ingrained enough into a community’s memory and especially into their storytelling, that person can easily transform into a mythic character. Eliade describes this process at length in The Myth of the Eternal Return. In speaking of the formation of heroic archetypes he says that historic figures’ “historicity does not long resist the corrosive action of mythicization.” Eliade argues that the “popular memory,” in this case, the Kiowa oral tradition, is unable to remember the historical details of people or events, but that in mythicizing people or events the essence remains the same. So it’s not important whether or not Mammedaty actually say a little boy’s head on the grass appear and disappear, but Mammedaty’s experience and the lessons he learned are important enough to preserve in the memory of the Kiowa people.

Momaday and Eliade Response

Momaday’s grandfather Mammedaty appears multiple times in The Way to Rainy Mountain. He is an important man in Momaday’s and the Kiowa tribe’s history. In chapter 5 Momaday describes Mammedaty’s affinity for hunting and inability to grow cotton and wheat at his home in Oklahoma. Chapter 7 speaks of Mammedaty’s connection with horses, and hints at his skill as a hunter, and chapter 11 Mammedaty is described as a peyote man, someone who sees sacred things. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that in chapter 21 Mammedaty makes the transition from Momaday’s personal reflections and family history to the Kiowa folklore. I think that once a person’s history becomes ingrained enough into a community’s memory and especially into their storytelling, that person can easily transform into a mythic character. Eliade describes this process at length in The Myth of the Eternal Return. In speaking of the formation of heroic archetypes he says that historic figures’ “historicity does not long resist the corrosive action of mythicization.” Eliade argues that the “popular memory,” in this case, the Kiowa oral tradition, is unable to remember the historical details of people or events, but that in mythicizing people or events the essence remains the same. So it’s not important whether or not Mammedaty actually say a little boy’s head on the grass appear and disappear, but Mammedaty’s experience and the lessons he learned are important enough to preserve in the memory of the Kiowa people.

Second Blog Post Assignment

To be answered in 250 words by all students whose last names begin with letters N-Z by noon Monday. Please read each other's posts, even if it's not your week to respond, and feel free to add comments.

In Ch. 21, p. 72-73, Mammedaty, Momaday's grandfather, appears in the first stanza, which, according to the structure Momaday lays out for us in the preface, is usually reserved for mythic narratives. Why do you think this is? What might Eliade say about a historical figure entering the realm of myth?

Chinese Poles Act

Here's my little bro! He's 17 now, and he's studied Chinese Poles for just over 2 years. He choreographed this all himself, obviously, and I'm really proud of him. :) And, obviously, I love to brag about him. :)

Presentation Dates

2/10: Margaret Ann and Mike on the Sun Dance and the Kiowa migration myth

2/12: Cari and Daniel on La Llorona and the Virgin of Guadalupe

2/17: Domenica and Christina on curanderas and animism in Mesoamerican traditions

3/19: Lyndsey and Kelly on Laguna goddesses

3/24: Joanne and Jareen on Navajo and Laguna witchcraft

3/31: Na Rae and Claudia on Fa Mu Lan and Yue Fei

4/2: Matt and Nikita on ghosts in Chinese culture

4/9: Sarah on Ts'ai Yen