Native American literature. What is the relationship between Native American identity and American identity - Essay Example

Native American literature, also referred to as American Indian literature, is the traditional oral and written literature of the indigenous people of the Americas. It consists of an extensive set of folk tales, myths, legends, stories and oral histories that were passed on from generation to generation for centuries by story tellers and that now continue to live on in the written works of many contemporary Native American writers. Their oral and written literature symbolizes their close connection to the world around them, something that American literature does not incorporate in itself.

Their myths embody their basic life principles and their values, which consist of belief about the nature and the physical world, belief about social order and appropriate behavior and finally, belief about human nature and the problem of good and evil. “The white man” and his literature succumb to the popular idea that mythology is necessarily something that is false. But, the Native American mythology offers a shared vision of the world for the people who hold them. Their truth is not a scientific one and their myths articulate the fundamental truths about the shape of the universe and the nature of humanity.

In addition, there exists an enormous amount of stereotyping of the American Indian literature in the American society, such as the cliches of the dying warrior, the stoic hero, the mysterious stranger or the comic drunk. These are a part of American life that will never vanish. Native American views of the world as represented in their mythologies contrast strongly with Euro-American perspectives, in terms of nature vs. technical progress, paganism vs. Christianity, etc. Recognizing this is absolutely essential for understanding the differences between Anglo-Americans and Native Americans over questions of land, social organization, religion, and so on, and why they have waged wars for such a long time.

In other words, they are identifying these fundamental differences in outlook between Native American peoples and Anglo-American peoples through their literature. Judging from past experience, it is clear that American Indians do not feel welcome in the American society, and the message they are trying to convey with their recent literature, the one that has moved away from the mythological and has moved closer to the realm of the real, portraying the harsh reality of their state, which is ruled by poverty, hunger, joblessness and higher than average suicide rate.

Their literature presents a canvas of their lives. While they were not segregated and left to live their lives how they saw it fit, they created beautifully magical stories of helping, nurturing, accepting responsibility and initiation into adulthood. What they are writing now is a picture far less beautiful and magical, conveying alienation and cultural conflict they cannot seem to overcome. The literature of the Native American writer has grown and matured considerably, but the scars of the long and arduous struggle are visible.

Because, not only were they forced to overcome the persistent stereotypes of the “noble savage,” but they also had to transgress cultural conflicts and feeling like social misfits in the present day.