In the Oral Tradition? Vizenor as Dramatist

This paper deals with the way in which Gerald Vizenor has translated his own postmodern theory of the Postindian into dramatic format. Technically and theatrically speaking, there is always that postcolonial level on which Native American and Canadian First Nations actors are either playing with, or...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hochbruck, Wolfgang
Format: Book Part
Language:English
Published: Presses universitaires de la Méditerranée 2022
Subjects:
DSB
Online Access:http://books.openedition.org/pulm/12898
Description
Summary:This paper deals with the way in which Gerald Vizenor has translated his own postmodern theory of the Postindian into dramatic format. Technically and theatrically speaking, there is always that postcolonial level on which Native American and Canadian First Nations actors are either playing with, or are playing against, preconceived cinematic and theatrical images of the stage and screen “Indian”. Vizenor’s two dramatic texts—the screenplay to Harold of Orange (1983) and the play Ishi and the Wood Ducks (1995)—ironise this legacy in a series of trickster comedy images (Harold) and an academic word play (Ishi). Cet article examine comment Vizenor a donné forme dramatique à sa théorie postmoderne du « Postindian ». On constate toujours chez le comédien amérindien ou des Peuples premiers du Canada un jeu avec ou contre les clichés de l’« Indien » à la scène ou à l’écran. Dans ses deux textes dramatiques, le scénario de Harold of Orange (1983) et la pièce Ishi and the Wood Ducks (1995), Vizenor à son tour ironise dans une série de scènes où se déploie le comique du décepteur (dans Harold) ou de jeux intellectuels sur la langue (dans Ishi).