Customer Reviews

Gerald Vizenor: Writing in the Oral Tradition

For students of Native American Literature puzzled by Gerald Vizenor, perhaps the most important--but often the most difficult--Native writer, Blaeser's book is long-awaited and highly recommended.

Blaeser shows how Vizenor's prose, oftentimes cryptic and fraught with neologisms, parallels influences that come from his interest in Chippewa oral tradition and haiku. She explains how Vizenor's concept of "word cinemas," for example, stimulates the reader into active thought. Vizenor's prose leaves a great deal unsaid and unfinished, and it is up to the reader to participate in the production of ideas Vizenor introduces.

Finally, Blaeser shows how Vizenor's prose is most effective in dismantling stereotypes regarding Native identity; by creating an active relationship with the reader, the reader's conception of "Indianness" becomes a dynamic, continually changing process, never static.

For a critical study of this type, Blaeser's book is well-written and not difficult reading. This study is highly recommended, and readers who are interested in Gerald Vizenor and Native American Literature and culture will find this book essential