Preferred Citation: Smith, Jeanne Rosier. Writing Tricksters: Mythic Gambols in American Ethnic Fiction. Berkeley:  University of California Press,  c1997 1997. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft7199p0zh/


 

Index

A

Abrahams, Roger, 113 , 141 , 149

Adamson-Clarke, Joni, 168 n. 15

Allen, Paula Gunn, 1 , 18 , 20 -21, 27 , 151 , 156

Ammons, Elizabeth, 9 , 159 n. 14

Anansi (Ashanti trickster), 118

Anzaldúa, Gloria, 1 , 18 -21, 26 , 28 , 31

archetype, trickster as, 3 , 157 nn. 2, 3.

See also folklore; myth

Aubrey, James, 164 n. 22, 165 n. 27

B

Baker, Houston, 113

Bakhtin, Mikhail, 12 -13, 17 -18, 54 , 144 -146, 160 nn. 21, 22, 172 n. 16, 175 n. 1

Ballinger, Franchot, 161 n. 28

Basso, Ellen, 159 n. 13

Beauvoir, Simone de, 160 n. 19

Beet Queen, The (Erdrich), 29 , 86 -90;

community in, 87 , 89 ;

trickster identity in, 86 -89

Beloved (Morrison), 114 , 171 n. 3

Benton-Banai, Edward, 75

Bevis, William, 74 -75

Bingo Palace, The (Erdrich), 29 , 71 , 78 , 103 -110;

casino gambling in, 102 , 106 , 170 n. 35;

Chippewa history in, 102 , 106 , 109 ;

trickster identity in, 104 -105;

use of chorus in, 103 -104

Bird, Gloria, 94 -95, 169 n. 22

Blake, Susan, 172 n. 11

border studies, 1 -2, 17 -20.

See also cross-cultural criticism; trickster, and identity

Br'er Rabbit, 112 -113, 115 -116, 128 , 131 , 133 , 135 , 137 , 151 -153

C

Carby, Hazel, 21 , 157 n. 2

Carmean, Karen, 172 n. 13

Catt, Catherine, 166 n. 1, 167 n. 11

Chesnutt, Charles, 9 , 112 , 153

Cheung, King-Kok, 44 , 158 n. 9, 164 nn. 18, 21

Chin, Frank, 66 -67


192

China Men (Kingston), 29 , 39 -48, 99 ;

comedy in, 44 , 48 ;

discovery in, 42 ;

fathers in, 44 -45;

genre of, 39 -40;

oral tradition in, 40 ;

revisionist mythmaking in, 41 -42;

tricksters in, 45 -47

Chinese culture, women's roles in, 31 -32, 35 -36

Chippewa culture. See Erdrich;

Tracks

Christian, Barbara, 121 , 172 nn. 10, 11

Cisneros, Sandra, 10

Coleman, James, 131

confidence-man, 8 -9

cross-cultural criticism, x, 6 -7.

See also border studies; trickster aesthetic

D

Dasenbrock, Reed Way, 161 n. 31

Davis, Cynthia, 121

Denard, Carolyn, 21 , 123

Detmer, Ann, 161 n. 30

Dorris, Michael, 99 , 166 n. 1, 170 nn. 29, 30

Doty, William, 159 n. 12

double-voicing, 15.

See also multi-vocality; signifying

E

Ellison, Ralph, 10 , 28 , 111 , 160 n. 17, 166 n. 33

Erdrich, Louise, 29 , 71 -110, 154 ;

adaptability in, 82 -84;

Chippewa history in, 72 , 87 , 94 -95, 97 -98, 102 , 106 , 109 ;

Chippewa myth in, 75 -77, 79 , 110 , 166 n. 4, 169 n. 26;

and cultural survival, 72 , 78 , 81 -82, 106 ;

and gender, 170 n. 30;

interconnection in, 72 -75;

internalized oppression in, 83 -84, 94 -96;

kinship in, 86 , 96 , 100 , 169 n. 23;

landscape in, 81 , 106 -107;

and language, 82 -83, 96 -97;

and orality, 99 -100;

and postmodernism, 73 , 91 ;

and reader, 92 -93;

revisionist mythmaking in, 79 -80, 84 -85;

storytelling in, 80 , 91 -92, 98 -99;

as trickster, 103 , 108 -100;

trickster identity in, 73 -74.

See also Beet Queen; Bingo Palace; Love Medicine; Tracks

Erickson, Peter, 140 , 173 n. 21

Eshu-Elegbara (Yoruba trickster), 14 , 19 , 147 , 159 n. 11

ethnic literatures, history of, ix.

See also trickster, in American literary history

ethnicity, and gender, 21 , 26 -28;

and voice, 54 -55.

See also cross-cultural criticism

F

Faulkner, William, 10

Felski, Rita, 5

Feuerwerker, Yi-Tse Mei, 164 n. 23

Flavin, James, 167 n. 9, 170 n. 31

Flowers in the Mirror (Li Ju-Chen), 41

folklore, xi , 157 n. 3;

African American, 112 -114, 175 n. 2.

See also Morrison; myth

Franklin, Benjamin, 10

Frye, Northrop, 157 n. 2

G

Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., 14 -16, 143

Gilligan, Carol, 27 , 161 n. 27

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, 164 n. 16

Giovanni, Nikki, 25

Gleason, William, 167 n. 5, 169 nn. 22, 27


193

Goellnicht, David, 164 n. 15

Gotera, Vicente, 38

H

Harper, Frances E. W., 9

Harris, Joel Chandler, 128

Harris, Trudier, 112 -113, 115 -116, 121 , 136 , 171 nn. 1, 7

Hemingway, Ernest, 10

Herland (Gilman), 164 n. 16

Hermes (Greek trickster), 159 nn. 11

Holt, Deborah, 167 n. 11

hooks, bell, 16 , 19 -21, 28 , 162 n. 36

Hsia, C. T., 53 , 164 n. 23

Hudson-Weems, Clenora, 172 n. 9

Hughes, Langston, 112

Hurston, Zora Neale, 112 , 153

Hwang, David Henry, 10

Hynes, William, 16 , 71 , 109 , 159 nn. 12, 13

humor, as cultural survival, 98 , 169 n. 27.

See also trickster, and humor

I

I Love Lucy , 163 n.9

Iser, Wolfgang, 24

J

Johansen, Ruthann Knechel, 160 n. 22

Journey to the West (Wu Ch'eng-en), 45 , 49 , 52 -55, 57 , 59 -60

Jung, Carl, 157 n. 2

K

Kingston, Maxine Hong, 29 , 151 , 254 ;

and Chinese American history, 33 , 57 -59

and comedy, 44 , 48 , 69 ;

and her critics, 66 -67;

ethnocentrism in, 43 ;

and gender, 35 -36, 40 -42, 59 -60, 63 -64, 69 , 164 n. 30;

and pacifism, 164 n. 25

and reader, 38 -39, 64 -65, 66 -68;

revisionist mythmaking in, 41 -42, 55 -61, 163 n. 6;

storytelling in, 34 , 36 -40, 49 , 52 , 65

as trickster, 63 -69.

See also China Men; Tripmaster Monkey; Woman Warrior .

L

Larsen, Nella, 173 n. 22

Lauter, Estella, 3 , 158 n. 8

Legba (Fon trickster), 147 -148, 159 n. 11

Lenz, William, 8 -9, 159 n. 15

Levine, Lawrence W., 171 n. 2

Li, David Leiwei, 163 n. 6

Lightfoot, Marjorie, 163 n. 8

Lim, Shirley Geok-Lin, 26

liminality, 7 .

See also border studies; trickster

Lin, Patricia, 53 , 161 n. 24, 164 n. 22

Lincoln, Kenneth, 142 , 151 , 155 , 174 n. 1

Lindberg, Gary 159 n. 14

Ling, Amy, 1 , 18 , 27 , 31 , 63

Loki (Norse trickster), 159 n. 11, 164 n. 19

Love Medicine (Erdrich), 29 , 71 -83, 90 -97, 129 ;

Chippewa history in, 94 ;

Chippewa myth in, 75 -77, 79 , 169 n. 26;

communal narrative in, 90 -94;

expanded edition of, 96 -97, 100 -103;

healing in, 76 -78, 169 n. 22;

political statement in, 76 , 81 ;

reader as trickster in, 92 -93;

storytelling in, 80 ;

trickster identity in, 83 , 101

M

magical realism, 17 , 147 , 158 n. 6, 174 n. 27


194

masking, as trickster strategy, 10 , 12 , 113 , 153 .

See also under Morrison

McKenzie, James, 166 n. 1

Melville, Herman, 8 , 10

Miller, Arthur, 61

Minh-ha, Trinh T. See Trinh T. Minh-ha

Mobley, Marilyn Sanders, 157 n. 4, 172 n. 16

Monkey King, 32 , 45 , 50 -52, 55 -56, 151 -153

Morrison, Toni, 29 , 111 -150, 154 -155;

and communal narrative, 6 , 147 -149, 174 n. 28;

and community, 111 -112, 114 -118, 130 ;

discredited knowledge in, 137 -138, 140 , 147 ;

and folklore, 112 -113, 127 -128, 133 , 141 , 144 -145;

and gender, 114 -115, 122 -124, 129 , 131 -137, 140 -141;

language, 142 -143;

masking in, 113 -114, 126 , 143 -146, 172 n. 16, 173 n. 26;

orality in, 149 ;

and reader, 141 -142, 148 -150, 174 n. 29;

revisionist mythmaking in, 132 -133;

signifying in, 143 , 146 , 149 ;

storytelling in, 127 , 138 -139, 149 ;

as trickster, 119 -120, 141 -150, 173 n. 23;

on western myth, 121 -122, 141 .

See also Song of Solomon; Sula; Tar Baby

Mourning Dove, 9 , 153

multivocality, and identity, 33 ;

as narrative form, 49 , 62 , 65 , 90 -94;

as trickster strategy, 11 -12, 154 -155.

See also double-voicing, narrative of community

myth, as culture-building, 4 -6, 158 n. 6;

theories of, xi , 3 , 5 -6, 157 n. 3, 158 n. 8, 159 n. 11.

See also folklore; revisionist myth-making

N

Nanabozho, 97 -98, 205 , 110 , 151 -153, 71 -72, 75 -76, 83 -84, 86

narrative of community, 3 -5, 158 n. 6.

See also multivocality

Newton, Judith, 157 n. 1, 158 n. 8

nonwestern worldview, 8 , 17 -19, 34 -35, 42 -44, 90 , 93 , 113 -114, 116 -117, 129

O

Oakes, Karen, 160 n. 23

O'Connor, Flannery, 160 n. 17

O'Neill, Eugene, 61

oral tradition, 6 , 53 , 90 -94, 99 , 149 , 162 n. 2;

and Chinese culture, 164 n. 23.

See also storytelling

Ovid, 164 n. 21

P

Pelton, Robert, x, 118 , 147 -150, 153 -154, 156

Perez-Castillo, Susan, 97

Peterson, Nancy J., 169 n. 24

Poe, Edgar Allen, 8 , 10

postmodernism, 16 -17, 53 , 73 , 91 , 152 , 164 n. 22

Pratt, Annis, 5 , 158 n. 8

Price Herndl, Diane, 13

Price, Kenneth, 165 n. 30

Q

Quicksand (Larsen), 173 n. 22

R

Rabinowitz, Paula, 22

Radin, Paul, x, 157 n. 2

Rainwater, Catherine, 91


195

reader, role of in trickster text, 23 -25, 154 -156.

See also under Erdrich; Kingston; Morrison

Reed, Ishmael, 10

revisionist mythmaking, 5 -7.

See also under Erdrich; Kingston; Morrison

Roberts, John W., x, 3 -5, 112 -113, 125 , 131 , 175 n. 2

Robinson Crusoe (Defoe), 43 -44

Romance of the Three Kingdoms , 57 -59

Rosenfelt, Deborah, 157 n. 1, 158 n. 8

Ruoff, A. LaVonne Brown, 160 n. 18

Ruppert, James, 93 , 167 n. 6

Rushkin, Donna Kate, 25

S

Samuels, Wilfred, 172 n. 9

Sands, Kathleen, 92 -93, 169 n. 21

Saragossa Manuscript, The (film), 61

Sarris, Greg, 77 , 168 n. 13, 169 n. 22

Schueller, Malini, 162 n. 4, 163 n. 6

Shiva, 20

signifying, as trickster strategy, 113 .

See also under Morrison

signifying monkey, 14 , 143

Silberman, Robert, 91

Silko, Leslie, 10

Skerrett, Joseph, 125 , 142 , 172 n. 17

Sledge, Linda Ching, 164 n. 8

Song of Solomon (Morrison), 22 , 29 , 114 , 120 -127, 135 , 149 ;

community in, 123 -126;

conjuror in, 125 -126;

myth in, 121 -122, 172 n. 13;

role of griot in, 127 ;

trickster identity in, 121 -122, 124 -125

Stein, Gertrude, 54

storytelling, as a trickster strategy, 22 -24.

See also under Erdrich; Kingston; Morrison

Sui Sin Far (Edith Eaton), 9 , 153

Sula (Morrison), 29 , 114 -120, 125 ;

community in, 115 -118;

trickster identity in, 118 -120

Suyin, Han, 31 , 33 , 161 n. 25

T

Tar Baby (Morrison), 22 , 29 -30, 111 , 115 , 125 -142, 149 , 154 ;

ambiguity in, 141 ;

blindness in, 129 , 137 -139;

cultural conflict in, 129 , 131 -135;

revisionist mythmaking in, 132 -133;

tar as trope in, 129 , 132 -136, 144 ;

trickster identity in, 129 -131, 135 , 137 -141

Thoreau, Henry David, 67 , 165 n. 32

Toomer, Jean, 112

Tracks (Erdrich), 22 , 29 , 40 , 46 , 71 , 82 -86, 93 -102;

Chippewa history in, 94 -95, 97 -98;

communal narrative in, 169 n. 21;

narrative structure in, 93 -94;

storytelling in, 98 -99;

trickster identity in, 84 -85

Traylor, Eleanor, 132

trickster, in American literary history, xi , 2 -3, 7 -11, 12 , 153 , 159 nn. 12, 15;

and community, 4 , 85 -86, 104 -105, 125 -126, 130 , 154 -155;

as critical model, 1 , 20 ;

as cross-cultural, 7 , 17 -18, 153 ;

as culture-builder, 3 , 9 , 126 , 153 -154;

and gender, 5 , 21 -22, 27 , 161 n. 28;

and humor, 10 , 12 , 16 , 26 , 30 , 98 , 151 ,


196

153 -154, 156 , 169 n. 27;

and identity, 20 , 25 , 50 ;

and language, 14 -16;

limits of, in characterization, 77 -78, 86 , 119 -120;

negative perception of, 8 , 112 -113;

as political agent, 12 -16, 46 -47, 113 -114, 155 -156;

as postmodern, 16 -17, 73 , 91 , 53 , 152 ;

as sacred, 8 , 112 , 124 -125, 147 ;

as survivor, 8 , 72 ;

as visionary, 13 -14, 156 ;

and women of color, 1 -2, 28 , 152 ;

in world literature, 159 n. 11, 267 n. 8.

See also individual novels

trickster aesthetic, as critical model, 11 -15, 22 , 152 -156

Trinh T. Minh-ha, 17 , 23 , 25

Tripmaster Monkey (Kingston), 22 , 29 , 48 -69, 151 , 154 ;

American culture in, 50 -51, 53 , 60 -61;

audience in, 64 , 67 -68;

Chinese American history in, 57 -59;

community in, 51 -53, 57 -58, 65 , 68 -69;

language in, 54 -55;

narrative structure of, 52 -53, 61 -62, 64 -65;

and postmodernism, 53 ;

racism in, 49 -50, 58 -59, 64 , 66 , 69 ;

storytelling in, 49 , 52 , 65 ;

tricksters in, 50 -51;

use of myth in, 51 , 56 -61, 65 ;

war in, 58 -59

Turner, Victor, 7 , 19 , 159 n. 11

TuSmith, Bonnie, 24 -25, 85 , 153 , 158 n. 5, 161 n. 33, 163 n. 10, 165 n. 31, 168 n. 20

Twain, Mark, 8 , 10 , 54

V

Vecsey, Christopher, 166 n. 4

Velie, Alan, 90 , 109 , 167 n. 8

Vizenor, Gerald, 10 , 14 -16, 23 -24, 76 , 78 , 91 -93, 98 , 103

W

Wadlington, Warwick, 159 n. 14

Wakdjunkaga (Winnebago trickster), 157 n. 2, 159 n. 11

Ward, Jerry Jr., 160 n. 18

Watanna, Onoto (Winnifred Eaton),

Water Margin, The , 57 -58, 165 n. 24

Werner, Craig, 173 nn. 20, 26

White-Parks, Annette, 9 , 159 n. 14

Whitman, Walt, 50 , 54

Wiget, Andrew, 13 , 77 , 81 , 161 n. 28

Wilentz, Gay, 172 n. 9, 174 n. 30

Williams, William Carlos, 63

Willis, Susan, 174 n. 31

Woman Warrior, The (Kingston), 22 , 29 , 32 -39, 66 , 162 n. 34;

as communal autobiography, 34 ;

trickster identity in, 33 ;

trickster narration in, 37 -39;

as postmodern, 164 n. 22;

use of paradox in, 34 -37

Wong, Sau-ling Cynthia, 163 n. 6

Woolf, Virginia, 63

Y

Yalom, Marilyn, 164 n. 22

Yellowman, 1 , 23

Z

Zagarell, Sandra, 3 -5, 158 n. 6

Zitkala-Sa[*] , 9 , 153


 

Preferred Citation: Smith, Jeanne Rosier. Writing Tricksters: Mythic Gambols in American Ethnic Fiction. Berkeley:  University of California Press,  c1997 1997. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft7199p0zh/