american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
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EQUIVOCAL AGENCY 109<br />
one that sees pop cultural mythology’s (<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> guise of Buffalo Bill’s)<br />
vision of evolution as <strong>the</strong> death of <strong>the</strong> Indian as savage and <strong>the</strong> advent<br />
of his proper place—<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> museum where o<strong>the</strong>r ext<strong>in</strong>ct, once wild<br />
creatures now reside. Alexie’s parody of this vision of (d)evolution<br />
ends <strong>in</strong> that beacon of high culture—<strong>the</strong> museum—where cultures are<br />
supposedly preserved. However, this museum actually represents <strong>the</strong><br />
deaths and exploitation of <strong>in</strong>digenous cultures.<br />
In Alexie’s usage of magic realism, Buffalo Bill does not miraculously<br />
enter <strong>the</strong> reservation <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> late twentieth <strong>century</strong>; <strong>in</strong>stead, he<br />
never left. He has always been <strong>the</strong>re to keep Indians <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir proper<br />
place <strong>in</strong> American culture. Buffalo Bill is still <strong>the</strong> celebrated<br />
hero, Indians <strong>the</strong> primitive savages prone to alcoholism and selfdestruction;<br />
both are popular images that mask <strong>the</strong> realities of colonization.<br />
Therefore, <strong>in</strong> “Evolution,” <strong>the</strong> Indians strangely give back<br />
to whites <strong>the</strong> trapp<strong>in</strong>gs of popular culture (TVs and VCRs) even as<br />
<strong>the</strong>y struggle with <strong>the</strong> alcohol <strong>in</strong>troduced to <strong>the</strong>m by whites. Alexie’s<br />
Indians are thus trapped <strong>in</strong> a colonized space where<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>y have<br />
compromised identities and little self-determ<strong>in</strong>ation.<br />
“Evolution” is a satirical narrative with a dystopian, parodic voice.<br />
Unlike <strong>the</strong> two Simic poems that employ strange narratives and ironic<br />
voices, “Evolution” is more accessible and enterta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g and thus more<br />
deceptive. John Newton po<strong>in</strong>ts out that “<strong>poetry</strong>-shy undergraduates<br />
respond to Alexie’s work” with “<strong>in</strong>stant recognition” due to its “readerfriendly<br />
textures and ambivalent good humor” (414), features that<br />
would no doubt disappo<strong>in</strong>t Palmer and <strong>the</strong> Language poets. But as<br />
Newton suggests, someth<strong>in</strong>g more nebulous is at work <strong>in</strong><br />
“Evolution,” which is none<strong>the</strong>less subtle and <strong>in</strong>direct. Newton calls<br />
Alexie’s collection of parodic strategies vis-à-vis white American culture<br />
“autoethnographic parody”; <strong>in</strong> this strategy Alexie works to<br />
reclaim <strong>the</strong> Indian’s stereotyped, white-constructed image. Newton<br />
po<strong>in</strong>ts out that Alexie “cannot set <strong>the</strong> terms of this narrative<br />
exchange” because it necessarily takes place <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> images, terms, and<br />
significations of <strong>the</strong> dom<strong>in</strong>ant white culture (427). Indeed,<br />
“Evolution” works as a type of gallows humor, but not an empty one.<br />
It takes on <strong>the</strong> “most vicious and demean<strong>in</strong>g” (Newton 416) stereotypes<br />
held by <strong>the</strong> dom<strong>in</strong>ant culture and attempts to re-imag<strong>in</strong>e <strong>the</strong>m<br />
as part of genocide styled as “evolution.” But <strong>the</strong> question rema<strong>in</strong>s:<br />
does this poetic voice exploit those negative images for poetic ga<strong>in</strong>?<br />
I believe, f<strong>in</strong>ally, that Alexie’s poem documents exploitation and<br />
appropriation, but does not traffic <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>m itself.<br />
If Alexie reconsiders <strong>the</strong> “evolution” of Indians and white<br />
North Americans <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> previous poem, <strong>in</strong> “A Reconsideration of