| Artistry in Native American Myths Contributor(s): Kroeber, Karl (Author) |
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ISBN: 0803277857 ISBN-13: 9780803277854 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press OUR PRICE: $27.00 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 1998 Annotation: This challenging study analyzes nearly forty superb stories, from mythic narratives predating Columbus to contemporary American Indian fiction, representing every traditional Native American culture area. Developing recent ethnopoetic scholarship and drawing on the critical ideas of Mikhail Bakhtin and Pierre Bourdieu, Karl Kroeber reveals how preconceptions deriving from our hypervisual, print-dominated culture distort our understanding of essential functions and forms of oral storytelling. Kroeber demonstrates that myths do not merely preserve tradition but may transform it by performatively reenacting the concealed sociological and psychological conflicts that give rise to social institutions. Showing how the variability of mythic narrative fosters communal self-renewal, Kroeber offers startling insight into Native Americans' perception of animals as "cultured, " their creation of visually unrepresentable tricksters by aural imagining, and the rhetorical means through which oral narratives may not only reflect but even redirect political change. By making understandable the forgotten artistry of oral storytelling, Kroeber enables modern readers to appreciate fully the tragic emotions, hilarious ribaldry, and haunting beauty in these astonishing Native American mythic narratives. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - Native American Studies - Social Science | Folklore & Mythology |
| Dewey: 398.208 |
| LCCN: 97-51506 |
| Series: Texts and Contexts |
| Physical Information: 0.63" H x 6.06" W x 8.98" (0.91 lbs) 292 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - Native American |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This challenging study analyzes nearly forty superb stories, from mythic narratives predating Columbus to contemporary American Indian fiction, representing every traditional Native American culture area. Developing recent ethnopoetic scholarship and drawing on the critical ideas of Mikhail Bakhtin and Pierre Bourdieu, Karl Kroeber reveals how preconceptions deriving from our hypervisual, print-dominated culture distort our understanding of essential functions and forms of oral storytelling. Kroeber demonstrates that myths do not merely preserve tradition but may transform it by performatively reenacting the concealed sociological and psychological conflicts that give rise to social institutions. Showing how the variability of mythic narrative fosters communal self-renewal, Kroeber offers startling insight into Native Americans' perception of animals as "cultured," their creation of visually unrepresentable tricksters by aural imagining, and the rhetorical means through which oral narratives may not only reflect but even redirect political change. By making understandable the forgotten artistry of oral storytelling, Kroeber enables modern readers to appreciate fully the tragic emotions, hilarious ribaldry, and haunting beauty in these astonishing Native American mythic narratives. |