초록 열기/닫기 버튼
In Reservation Blues, Sherman Alexie examines how Indians can survive successfully in contemporary America, overcoming the tragic history of colonialists’violence and the resultant traumata. For Alexie, both reassembling the parts of the colonialist history through remembrance and testifying its unjustness play important roles not only in the decolonization process which probes the remnants and the negative effects of the colonialism deeply rooted in the lives of Indians but in the procedure of healing the political, cultural,and religious traumata. However, it should be noted that the ultimate aim of Alexie’s decolonization does not lie in erasing every trace of the colonialism but in transforming its legacy into a story of survivance. The recovery of the tribal voices and the preservation of Indian traditions,blood, and cultures are essential in the survivance of Indians. Yet, Alexie’s tribalism should not be viewed as an exclusive one. He knows well that it is neither possible nor desirable to maintain an exclusive tribalism based on blind adherence to a mythic or “pure” past. Exclusive tribalism is a cause for alarm in the contemporary world, a dynamic place where diverse cultures consistently change through collision, exchange, and negotiation. In Reservation Blues, Alexie stresses a spiritual and cultural flexibility that makes the cultural interpenetration possible as a key element of the meaningful survivance of contemporary American Indians.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Sherman Alexie, Reservation Blues, decolonization, survival strategy, tribalism
