Native American Storytelling Lit Paper
Native American Storytelling
November 12, 2012
ENG/301
Native American Storytelling
Native American literature is the root of cultural storytelling, which is told through oral tradition, this consist of stories and songs verbally. Native American literature use literary conventions in the root of myth and symbolic examples in storytelling. The book “Native American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology” gives good insight into the Native American ways of life and how storytelling is a part of that life. Short stories by Simon Oritz and Luther Standing Bear share life experience and cultural diversity. The reader can see how historical, social and political, and cultural ways play a role in the Native Americans storytelling.
Storytelling is important in Native American literature. It began through “…both oral performances and in the imagination of written narratives, cannot be discovered in reductive social science translations or altogether understood in historical constructions of culture in one common name” (Vizenor, 1995, p. 1). Storytelling is the verbal source of stories; a well told story takes its reader on a quest or journey and well descriptive. “The metaphors in oral stories are mundane, abstruse, mysterious, unnamable, and more, but few collections in translation reveal the rich context of the songs and stories” (Vizenor, 1995, p. 7). Native American culture uses stories and songs to entertain as well as a way to teach the youth and inspire. Storytelling is an important tool in the Native American society. Storytelling is how Native Americans passed down the history, heritage, and traditions of their culture. “Tragic wisdom is the source of native reason, the common sense gained from the adverse experience of discovery, colonialism, and culture domination” (Vizenor, 1995, p. 6).
Native American literature use different types of literary conventions in storytelling traditions. According to Sinnaeve (2012) website, the Native American
November 12, 2012
ENG/301
Native American Storytelling
Native American literature is the root of cultural storytelling, which is told through oral tradition, this consist of stories and songs verbally. Native American literature use literary conventions in the root of myth and symbolic examples in storytelling. The book “Native American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology” gives good insight into the Native American ways of life and how storytelling is a part of that life. Short stories by Simon Oritz and Luther Standing Bear share life experience and cultural diversity. The reader can see how historical, social and political, and cultural ways play a role in the Native Americans storytelling.
Storytelling is important in Native American literature. It began through “…both oral performances and in the imagination of written narratives, cannot be discovered in reductive social science translations or altogether understood in historical constructions of culture in one common name” (Vizenor, 1995, p. 1). Storytelling is the verbal source of stories; a well told story takes its reader on a quest or journey and well descriptive. “The metaphors in oral stories are mundane, abstruse, mysterious, unnamable, and more, but few collections in translation reveal the rich context of the songs and stories” (Vizenor, 1995, p. 7). Native American culture uses stories and songs to entertain as well as a way to teach the youth and inspire. Storytelling is an important tool in the Native American society. Storytelling is how Native Americans passed down the history, heritage, and traditions of their culture. “Tragic wisdom is the source of native reason, the common sense gained from the adverse experience of discovery, colonialism, and culture domination” (Vizenor, 1995, p. 6).
Native American literature use different types of literary conventions in storytelling traditions. According to Sinnaeve (2012) website, the Native American