Transcending the reservation borders in Sherman Alexie’s work

Ewelina Bańka

doi:10.18290/rh.2015.63.11-10

Ewelina Bańka The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Faculty of Humanities

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rh.2015.63.11-10

Keywords: Sherman Alexie; reservation; Indian homeland; transcending borders; multicultural America; 9/11

Abstract

The article analyzes the theme of transcending borders in the selected works by Sherman Alexie. In my analysis the borders are understood literally, as geopolitical constructs, as well as symbolically, as social, cultural, and racial lines that separate individuals, communities, and nations. It is in the presence of these borders that individuals’ world-view and self-perception are formed. The process of transcending the real and metaphorical reservation borders observable in Alexie’s work reflects his gradual distancing from Indian-centric and racially charged themes. Explored extensively in his early writing, the reservation represents Indian homeland, and is portrayed as a place which, although embraced as home by his Indian characters, entails also geographical and mental confinement. Yet Alexie’s post-2000 work demonstrates that he has expanded the borders of his fictional world. This change is manifested in the author’s progressive detachment from the reservation-centered themes, and his growing interest in the multiethnic American setting. Accordingly, his recent work centers on “a mental and emotional landscape” of human relations in American society.

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