Gerald Vizenor
Gerald Vizenor, born on October 22, 1934, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a significant figure in postmodern literature, recognized for his contributions as a novelist, poet, essayist, and critic. He is of mixed Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) and European American heritage and is notable for being the first generation of his family not born on a reservation. Vizenor's work explores themes of identity and survivance, a concept he uses to embody a trickster's playful resistance against victimization and to challenge dominant narratives. His acclaimed works include "Griever: An American Monkey King in China," which won the American Book Award, and "The Heirs of Columbus," which reexamines historical relations between Native Americans and European colonizers.
His literary style often incorporates mystical elements and humor, influencing newer generations of Native American writers. Beyond writing, Vizenor has held various roles, including social worker and educator, establishing Native American studies programs and advocating for human rights. As a professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, he has shaped the academic landscape for Indigenous literature. Continuing to write into his eighties, his recent publications include "Satie on the Seine: Letters to the Heirs of the Fur Trade" and "Waiting for Wovoka," reflecting his enduring engagement with both historical and contemporary narratives.
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Subject Terms
Gerald Vizenor
- Born: October 22, 1934
- Birthplace: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Author Profile
An original voice in postmodern literature, Anishinaabe author Gerald Robert Vizenor is a brilliant and prolific novelist, poet, and essayist, as well as an influential critic. He has received numerous awards. These include the 1990 PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award for Interior Landscapes (1986), the 1986 Illinois State University/Fiction Collective Prize, and the 1988 American Book Award for Griever: An American Monkey King in China (1987).
Vizenor believes that Native American imagination foreshadows many postmodern literary strategies regarding identity. He uses the concept of “survivance” to denote the trickster’s playful attitude that undercuts domination-victimization oppositions and produces new worldviews. The trickster uses stories and humor to tease out contradictions between good and evil in the world. The Heirs of Columbus (1991) announces, “I am not a victim of Columbus,” and uses trickster storytelling to revise the history of relations between whites and tribal peoples. Always on the move, the trickster destabilizes “pure” identities. Tribal identities pass through tribal stories.
Vizenor, who is of mixed Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) and European American heritage, is of the first generation of his family not born on a reservation. When he was a child, his father was murdered, and his mother left him with foster families. At eighteen, he enlisted in the army and was stationed in Japan. In Interior Landscapes, Vizenor describes his discovery of Japanese haiku as a liberating, eye-opening experience important to his development as a writer. His experiences in Japan informed Matsushima: Pine Islands (1984), a collection of republished haiku from the 1960s, as well as the novel Hiroshima Bugi: Atomu 57 (2003).
The most recognized among Vizenor's later works are the nonfiction collection Fugitive Poses (1998), the short-story volume Wordarrows (2003), the poetry collection Almost Ashore (2006), and the novels Dead Voices (1992) and Shrouds of White Earth (2010). He has also edited several anthologies of Native American poems and writings, including the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award–winning Native American Literature (1996).
Newer generations of Native American writers continue to be influenced by authors such as Vizenor, particularly in their use of mystical topics woven into their storytelling. In a 2020 New York Times article focused on contemporary Indigenous authors, Vizenor was mentioned as one of the originators of melding science fiction or fantastical themes with Native narratives.
Vizenor continued to write as an older adult, publishing new books in his eighties. In 2020, Vizenor published a book entitled Satie on the Seine: Letters to the Heirs of the Fur Trade. This story begins in Paris before World War II and runs through the duration of the war. It tells the story of a Parisian who communicates his experiences in wartime France to Native American friends in Minnesota. Waiting for Wovoka was released in 2023 and follows a group of Native American puppeteers in the 1960s, travelling to perform at the World's Fair.
In addition to his career as a writer, Vizenor worked as a social worker, a mental hospital orderly, a camp counselor, and a reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune. In this capacity, he was a staunch advocate for human rights. He established the American Indian Employment Center in Minneapolis and directed the first Native American studies program at Bemidji State University. He also taught at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Minnesota, the University of Tianjin in China, and the University of Oklahoma, and the University of New Mexico. He is professor emeritus at UC Berkeley.
Bibliography
Alter, Alexandra. "‘We’ve Already Survived an Apocalypse’: Indigenous Writers Are Changing Sci-Fi." The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/books/indigenous-native-american-sci-fi-horror. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
Barry, Nora Baker. “Postmodern Bears in the Texts of Gerald Vizenor.” MELUS, vol. 27, fall 2002, pp. 93–112.
Blaeser, Kimberly. Gerald Vizenor: Writing in the Oral Tradition. U of Oklahoma P, 1996.
Carls, Alice-Catherine. "Satie on the Seine: Letters to the Heirs of the Fur Trade by Gerald Vizenor." World Literature Today, www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2021/summer/satie-seine-letters-heirs-fur-trade-gerald-vizenor. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
Carls, Alice-Catherine. “Waiting for Wovoka: Envoys of Good Cheer and Liberty.” World Literature Today, vol. 97, no. 6, Nov. 2023, pp. 59–60, EBSCOhost, doi.org/10.1353/wlt.2023.a910273. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024.
Coltelli, Laura, editor. Winged Words: American Indian Writers Speak. U of Nebraska P, 1990.
Haseltine, Patricia. “The Voices of Gerald Vizenor: Survival through Transformation.” American Indian Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 1, winter 1985, p. 31.
Isernhagen, Hartwig. Momaday, Vizenor, Armstrong: Conversations on American Indian Writing. American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series, vol. 32. U of Oklahoma P, 1999.
Lee, A. Robert, editor. Loosening the Streams: Interpretations of Gerald Vizenor. Bowling Green State U Popular P, 2000.
Monsma, Bradley John. “‘Active Readers … Obverse Tricksters’: Trickster-Texts and Cross-Cultural Reading.” Modern Language Studies, vol. 26, fall 1996, pp. 83–98.
Owens, Louis, editor. Studies in American Indian Literatures: The Journal of the Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures, vol. 9, spring 1997.
Velie, Alan. Four American Indian Literary Masters: N. Scott Momaday, James Welch, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Gerald Vizenor. U of Oklahoma P, 1982.
Vizenor, Gerald. “‘I Defy Analysis’: A Conversation with Gerald Vizenor.” Interview by Rodney Simard, et al. Studies in American Indian Literatures: The Journal of the Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures, vol. 5, fall 1993, pp. 42–51.
Vizenor, Gerald. “An Interview with Gerald Vizenor.” Interview by Neal Bowers and Charles L. P. Silet. MELUS, vol. 8, no. 1, 1981, pp. 41–49.
Vizenor, Gerald. “Mythic Rage and Laughter: An Interview with Gerald Vizenor.” Interview by Dallas Miller. Studies in American Indian Literatures: The Journal of the Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures, vol. 7, spring 1995, pp. 77–96.
Vizenor, Gerald. “On Thin Ice, You Might as Well Dance: An Interview with Gerald Vizenor.” Interview by Larry McCaffery and Tom Marshall. Some Other Fluency: Interviews with Innovative American Authors. U of Pennsylvania P, 1996.