This essay analyses the poem "Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation" of Natalie Diaz regarding Native American genocide.
Natalie Diaz, a Native American of the tribe of Mohave, published her first collection of poetry in 2015 and through it eloquently and passionately presents a variety of issues related to the Native American community. As she states in an interview given to Kaveh Akbar, her poetry consists of images that tell stories, stories she had either experienced or were created through myth and history.
The issue of genocide is such that rouses responses from all kinds of people and also vast production of literature including texts, essays and poetry.
Table of Contents
1. To what extent can "Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation" be seen as a textual product of genocide?
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines how the poem "Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation" by Native American poet Natalie Diaz serves as a textual manifestation of the historical and cultural genocide experienced by indigenous peoples, comparing it to other literary responses to mass violence worldwide.
- The intersection of literature and the historical trauma of genocide.
- Native American identity and the struggle for cultural preservation.
- Christian missionary influence and its role in colonial assimilation policies.
- Comparative analysis of literary testimonies from the Armenian and Rwandan genocides.
- The use of "constrained writing" as a metaphor for the confinement of indigenous communities.
Excerpt from the Book
In “Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation”, Diaz uses a form frequently used in the Hebrew Bible. Psalm 19, is one of the most early and well known abecedarian compositions and it’s form came to be discussed as a form of “constrained writing” due to the confinement the abecedarian form entails (Callaham 2009). This confinement may be paralleled to the confinement of the Native American community, both by settlers but also Christian Missionaries that attempted to impose their religion on the indigenous without any regard for their own religion and culture, a notion closely connected with the mental element of the genocide legal definition. The title itself relates the poem to the Anglican Church quite bluntly stressing the subjugation of wild Indians by it. Angels and Christmas pageants, as well as the Nazarene church, which was founded in the United States and focused on sanctification and moral purity (Ellwood, Alles 316) refer to the attempts of missionaries to convert Native Americans to Christianity and subsequently bring them under the control of the church. The speaker clearly expresses dismay and indifference for Christian customs which are irrelevant to Indians, “Maybe in a Christmas pageant or something” (13) the word “something” stressing how whatever it is, it is not really important to the speaker or other Indians. There is also blame for discrimination since “everyone knows angels are white” (16) as Diaz writes with a dose of irony. Since church power was highly important, Spain, France and England set up
Summary of Chapters
To what extent can "Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation" be seen as a textual product of genocide?: This chapter contextualizes the genocide debate concerning Native Americans and introduces Natalie Diaz's poem as a powerful, historically-grounded response to colonial violence, while drawing parallels to other global genocidal events and literary works.
Keywords
Genocide, Natalie Diaz, Native American literature, Colonialism, Assimilation, Poetry, Christian Missionaries, Historical Trauma, Cultural Preservation, Mohave, Armenian Genocide, Rwandan Genocide, Human Rights, Textual Analysis, Identity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this work?
The work explores whether Natalie Diaz's poem can be classified as a textual product of genocide by analyzing its historical references and its portrayal of the cultural and physical destruction of Native American communities.
What are the central themes discussed in the paper?
The paper focuses on themes of genocide, colonial religious imposition, the role of literature in responding to trauma, and the ongoing struggle for identity among indigenous people.
What is the central research question?
The research seeks to determine to what extent the specific poem by Natalie Diaz serves as a documentation or textual representation of the genocidal processes experienced by Native Americans.
Which methodology is employed in the study?
The study utilizes a literary and historical analysis, examining the poem's structure, irony, and allusions against established historical facts and legal definitions of genocide.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body covers the history of Native American displacement, the forced assimilation through Christian missions, comparative references to the Armenian and Rwandan genocides, and a deep textual analysis of Diaz's use of form and imagery.
Which keywords best characterize the research?
Key terms include genocide, Native American literature, cultural preservation, colonial violence, and literary response to mass trauma.
How does the author connect the poem to religious history?
The author discusses how the poem references the Anglican Church and missionary activities, interpreting these as attempts at forced assimilation that align with the mental elements of the legal definition of genocide.
Why are the Armenian and Rwandan genocides included in the analysis?
These examples are used to demonstrate a global pattern of literary responses to mass violence, highlighting how poets across different cultures utilize their work to process trauma and bear witness to atrocity.
What does the "abecedarian" form signify in the context of the poem?
It is analyzed as a form of "constrained writing" that serves as a powerful metaphor for the confinement and restriction experienced by the Native American community during the colonial era.
How does the poem relate to the concept of "social criticism"?
The author identifies the poem as a piece of social criticism because it uses irony and biting commentary to expose the historical and ongoing discrimination faced by Native Americans by settlers and institutional powers.
- Quote paper
- Elena Agathokleous (Author), 2018, Native American Genocide in Natalie Diaz' Poem "Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/995917
