1. ‘Narratives of a New Belonging’ - Introduction and Aim of the Study
In March 1968 Robert Kennedy reported the following about the miserable living conditions on most Native American reservations to a Senate sub-committee: “The first Americans are still the last Americans in terms of income, employment, health and education. I believe this to be a national tragedy for all Americans, for we all are in some way responsible” (qtd. in Breidlid 1998: 6).
Opening this thesis with this rhetoric pun on the first and the last on the American continent has been a deliberate decision as Kennedy’s status quo report provides for a nice introduction to this thesis’ larger subject matter. When his dialogics of the first and the last are not only restricted to U.S. American Indian communities, the overall image evoked can in fact easily be applied to other U.S. ethnic groups as well. Having long settled the desert regions north of nowadays U.S. Mexican border, contemporary Hispanic Americans, for instance, as the descendents of an early mestizo population of Mexican-Indian, European-Spanish and Anglo-American ancestry, share a collective memory which far precedes the U.S. presence in North America. Likewise African Americans can provide for a historical legacy that through the Diaspora of the Middle Passage and the system of plantation slavery easily traces itself back to the very first beginnings of American civilization. When in recent years many other immigrant and minority groups have handed in similar claims, the overall picture of American history evoked is no longer one of a WASP unitarian sense of historiography, but of transcultural diversity and plurality which clearly contradicts the proclaimed assimilatory homogeneity of the American character. Having already started to re-imagine Ethnic American historical legacies in the U.S. as of having been among the first on the American continent, it still remains to provide for the respective present-day social realities as of being among the last in terms of power structures. [...]
Table of Contents
1. ‘Narratives of a New Belonging’
- Introduction and Aim of the Study
2. ‘Ethnic America Fights Back’
- Approaching Contemporary (Ethnic) America
2.1 ‘The Turn to Culture‘
- Approaching American (Ethnic) Studies
2.2 ‘From Melting Pot to Cosmopolitism’
- Approaching American (Ethnic) Ideologies
2.3 ‘Vanishing Race, Invisible Men and Forgotten People’
- Approaching American (Ethnic) Histories and Social Realities
2.4 ‘Ethnic America Writes Back’
- Approaching Contemporary American (Ethnic) Literatures
3. ‘Stories of the Uprooted’ - The Politics of Memory and Identity in Contemporary American Ethnic Literatures
3.1 ‘Identity Politics One’
- The Return-To-Roots Narrative
3.2 ‘Identity Politics Continued’
- Rewriting the Return-To-Roots Narratives
3.3 ‘Identity Politics at Work’
- Politics of Memory and Identity in American Ethnic Writing
4. ‘The Search for a Sense of Place’
- Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima
4.1 ‘Living in the Borderlands’
- Antonio’s State of Alienation at the Beginning of the Novel
4.2 ‘Ultima’s Blessing and the Sacred Presence of the Land’
- Antonio’s Quest for a Collective Identity and a New Sense of Place
4.3 ‘Tony’s Development into a New World Person’
- Transculturation and Cultural Negotiation in Antonio’s Life
5. ‘The Search for a Usable Past’
- Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day
5.1 ‘Struggling with Diaspora’
- Ophelia’s State of Alienation at the Beginning of the Novel
5.2 ‘Miranda’s Curing and the Magical Presence of the Past’
- Ophelia’s Quest for a Collective Identity and a Usable Past
5.3 ‘Baby Girl’s Development into a New World Person’
- Transculturation and Cultural Negotiation in Ophelia’s Life
6. ‘The Search for a Community’
- N. Scott Momaday’s House Made of Dawn
6.1 ‘Lacking the Right Words’
- Abel’s State of Alienation at the Beginning of the Novel
6.2 ‘Pan-Indian Healing and the Sustaining Power of the Community’
- Abel’s Quest for a Collective Identity and a Sustaining Community
6.3 ‘Abel’s Development into a New World Person’
- Transculturation and Cultural Negotiation in Abel’s Life
7. ‘Narratives of a New Belonging and the Healing Power of the Word’
- Conclusion
8. References and Works Cited
Objectives and Themes
This thesis examines the politics of memory and identity in contemporary American ethnic literature, specifically analyzing the works of Rudolfo Anaya, Gloria Naylor, and N. Scott Momaday. The primary objective is to demonstrate how these authors utilize their respective cultural traditions to overcome alienation and construct a new, transcultural sense of belonging that transcends traditional nationalist and assimilatory frameworks.
- Analysis of memory and identity politics as strategies for transcultural survival.
- Application of the "monomyth" framework to the protagonists' quest for a collective identity.
- Examination of borderland and transcultural negotiation in contemporary ethnic novels.
- Critique of traditional "melting pot" and "return-to-roots" paradigms.
- Comparative reading of three major ethnic novels: Bless Me, Ultima, Mama Day, and House Made of Dawn.
Excerpt from the Book
A Narrative of Firsts and Lasts
In March 1968 Robert Kennedy reported the following about the miserable living conditions on most Native American reservations to a Senate sub-committee: “The first Americans are still the last Americans in terms of income, employment, health and education. I believe this to be a national tragedy for all Americans, for we all are in some way responsible” (qtd. in Breidlid 1998: 6).
Opening this thesis with this rhetoric pun on the first and the last on the American continent has been a deliberate decision as Kennedy’s status quo report provides for a nice introduction to this thesis’ larger subject matter. When his dialogics of the first and the last are not only restricted to U.S. American Indian communities, the overall image evoked can in fact easily be applied to other U.S. ethnic groups as well.
Summary of Chapters
1. ‘Narratives of a New Belonging’: This chapter introduces the study's aim, which is to analyze how contemporary American ethnic literature negotiates memory and identity to establish a transcultural sense of belonging.
2. ‘Ethnic America Fights Back’: This section explores the historical and theoretical context of ethnic studies, focusing on the shift from assimilationist models to transcultural dialogues.
3. ‘Stories of the Uprooted’ - The Politics of Memory and Identity in Contemporary American Ethnic Literatures: This chapter theorizes the politics of identity, utilizing concepts like "double-consciousness" to frame the protagonists' search for roots.
4. ‘The Search for a Sense of Place’: An analysis of Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima, focusing on how the protagonist reconciles conflicting cultural heritages to find a sense of place.
5. ‘The Search for a Usable Past’: This chapter examines Gloria Naylor's Mama Day, exploring how memory and oral tradition serve as tools for Ophelia to reconstruct her identity.
6. ‘The Search for a Community’: A study of N. Scott Momaday's House Made of Dawn, detailing how the protagonist seeks a sustainable community through traditional healing and cultural negotiation.
7. ‘Narratives of a New Belonging and the Healing Power of the Word’: The conclusion summarizes the findings, emphasizing the transcultural survival strategies found within the analyzed novels.
8. References and Works Cited: A comprehensive bibliography of all scholarly sources referenced in the thesis.
Keywords
American Ethnic Studies, Transculturality, Identity Politics, Memory Politics, Cultural Negotiation, Myth Criticism, N. Scott Momaday, Rudolfo Anaya, Gloria Naylor, Belonging, Homi Bhabha, Stuart Hall, Borderland, Postcolonialism, Diaspora.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this thesis?
The thesis explores how contemporary American ethnic literature—specifically works by Anaya, Naylor, and Momaday—utilizes memory and identity politics as narrative strategies to overcome cultural alienation and establish a new, transcultural sense of belonging.
What are the central themes addressed in the work?
Key themes include the struggle for identity within marginalized communities, the role of myth and folklore in cultural survival, the concept of "borderlands," and the negotiation between ancestral roots and contemporary American reality.
What is the primary research question or goal?
The goal is to determine how protagonists in these novels move beyond binary notions of identity—such as "Indian vs. white"—to achieve a "New World" identity characterized by transcultural negotiation and hybridity.
What scientific methods are utilized?
The author employs a transdisciplinary approach, blending New Historicist analysis, Cultural Studies, Postcolonial Theory, and Myth Criticism, particularly Joseph Campbell’s theory of the monomyth, to analyze the novels.
What topics are covered in the main section?
The main section consists of a comparative analysis of three key novels: Bless Me, Ultima (Anaya), Mama Day (Naylor), and House Made of Dawn (Momaday), examining each through the lenses of sense of place, usable past, and sustaining community respectively.
Which keywords best describe the research?
The research is best described by keywords such as Transculturality, Identity Politics, Cultural Negotiation, Borderland Theory, and Ethnic American Literature.
How does the author apply the concept of "quilting" in Mama Day?
The author identifies the quilt as a central metaphor in Gloria Naylor’s work, representing the complex weaving together of past, present, and future, which allows characters to connect with their spiritual ancestors and gain the psychic health necessary for survival.
What significance does the "Race after Evil" hold in House Made of Dawn?
The race is interpreted as a ceremonial return to the hero's tribal roots, where the act of running becomes a ritual expulsion of evil and a symbolic restoration of natural order and community harmony for the protagonist, Abel.
- Quote paper
- M.A. / B.A. / LAss Michael Fink (Author), 2004, Narratives of a New Belonging: The Politics of Memory and Identity in Contemporary American Ethnic Literatures, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/30929
