Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 10-2023
Abstract
In their resistance to the Anglo-American colonialism and white supremacy, Native American writers use storytelling and mythical motifs to reclaim their Indigenous cultural memory. Through these mythical narratives, they seek to emphasize their tribal cultures, political sovereignty and nationalism. In their challenge of the traditional negative stereotypes, Native women writers have correspondingly engaged in a process of decolonization and self-definition to reclaim their subjectivity. Hence, this paper examines some of Joy Harjo’s poems that are published in In Mad Love and War (1990) and She Had Some Horses (1983) volumes. Drawing on Native feminism and Gerald Vizenor’s concept of ‘survivance’ as the main theoretical framework, the research examines Harjo’s use of Native mythology in her poems. The paper analyses how the poet salvages her distinctive Native heritage, deconstructs the negative stereotypes of Native women, contests invisibility and marginalization and recuperates the severed bond with her Native culture and land.
Recommended Citation
ElBably, Aya. "In Quest of a Mythopoetic Native American Subjectivity: Joy Harjo’s Poetry". Hermes, vol.12, No. 4, October (2023). pp.35-58. https://doi.org/10.21608/herms.2024.374611.
Included in
American Literature Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, Native American Studies Commons, Women's Studies Commons