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Author
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Comment
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sidhedancer
Registered User
(3/8/03 4:29:45 pm)
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female tricksters
Hi,
I am writing a paper on the female trickster character in native american and canadian literature and folklore. I would really appreciate it if anyone has any advice or thoughts to share. I live in germany and am having trouble finding the resources that I need, if anyone has any suggestions I woul be extremely grateful.
Thanks a lot.
Leslie
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Jess
Unregistered User
(3/8/03 9:11:51 pm)
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tricksters
Leslie,
I am not the best on this board to speak on this topic, but I have a few questions and maybe a suggestion or two depending upon your answers.
First, are you discussing any particular female tricksters? And if so, which ones?
Second, are you comparing them with other tricksters? Male tricksters in NA cultures? Female tricksters of European or other cultures?
Third, are you considering Mexican tricksters or only those cultures North of the Mexican/American border (which may be difficult to distinguish in some cases)?
You may wish to do a search on "tricksters" on the Surlalune website. There have been several discussions of them, and many of these discussions have included resources. Also, back in December of 2001, we had a topic on resources for Mexican folklore that might be helpful. I recall several discussions of male NA tricksters (coyote, frog and mink come to mind). I don't recall any specific discussions on female NA tricksters, but there was one last year in March or May on transgressive female characters and tricksters of other cultures were discussed, I believe.
Hope this helps.
Jess
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Midori
Unregistered User
(3/9/03 2:57:54 pm)
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Tricksters
There was a rather long thread a while back about this topic but here are a few possible places to start. Try looking for materials on "Yellow Woman" and "Deer Woman." They aren't exactly tricksters in the way male tricksters behave--but they share in tricksters almost socially inappropriate appetites, a kind of outrageous independence--and a certain level of danger when mere mortals and fools tangle with them. Leslie Silko has a nice collection of essays/pieces on Yellow Woman and perhaps Terri or Carolyn (hope you are checking in from time to time--miss hearing from you!)can recall the Deer Woman materials ?
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Gregor9
Registered User
(3/10/03 7:55:12 am)
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Re: Tricksters
You might also want to look at a story collection edited by Paula Gunn Allen, called "Spider Woman's Granddaughters," which incorporates Yellow Woman tales among others into a thread of stories extending from early native tales to contemporary Native American women writers. Not all are trickster stories, but you can see the of the trickster tale evolving through them. And it's just a great collection, too.
Greg
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sidhedancer
Registered User
(3/13/03 2:37:54 pm)
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thanks
Hi,
Thanks for all of your help.
Jess: So far I'm not discussing any particular traditional trickster, but I am using the fox from Highway's "Kiss of the Fur Queen" as one example of how contemporary native writers are incorporating the female trickster.
I will be comparing the female and male NA tricksters, although I do not want to focus my paper on comparing the two... more on why the female trickster is so rare in NA literature.
As far as Mexican tricksters are concerned, I would love to learn more about them, but I'm not sure if I will be able to use the information, as the paper is for a Canadian Lit course.
Will definitely check out "Spider Woman's Granddaughters" and look for the book by Leslie Silko.
Thanks again, and any other advice or suggestions are gratefully appreciated.
Take care,
Leslie
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Judith
Berman
Registered User
(3/13/03 8:23:37 pm)
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Coyote's sisters
A couple of thoughts. My diss. adviser, Dell Hymes, used to comment (don't know if this was his original insight or if he got it from elsewhere, would have to query him) that "trickster" was a term often misapplied, or applied too widely; that "tricksters" often combined elements of "buffoon" and "culture hero" but that these by no means always overlap.
Many so-called trickster stories in NA feature a character who combines buffoon and culture hero rather than trickster and culture hero. Many classic north Pacific Raven stories feature Raven obtaining an important good by tricking the being who hoards it, sometimes cruelly. On the other hand, many Coyote stories from the Plateau region have Coyote doing something cosmogonically important while trying, unsuccessfully and hilariously, to satisfy his appetites for sex and food. (Not to say that Raven never exhibits appetites or Coyote never tricks.)
Which brings me to Coyote's sisters, who might or might not shed some insight into the maleness of trickster and buffoon culture heroes. Coyote's sisters in Plateau stories are his turds. Whenever he needs advice, he consults his sisters, usually, I think, excreting them specifically for this purpose. They always give him really good advice. He always ignores it. Is this a commentary on the uneven distribution of good sense and appetite control among the genders? Your guess is as good as mine.
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Nalo
Registered User
(3/17/03 8:33:24 am)
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Re: Coyote's sisters
Two stories I'd like to recommend: Ursula Le Guin's "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight?" which features a female coyote trickster figure who collects her own turd sisters and talks to them (they talk back). You can find this reprinted as a solo book, although it's a short story. And my own short story "Something to Hitch Meat to," which [spoiler alert]
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features the spider trickster Anansi as a little girl. It's in my collection "Skin Folk," which is available from Warner Aspect.
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