- I know that Ruwanthi also asked along these same lines, but I’m really curious about the degree to which our inevitable centralization of a text, a literary object and a literary voice, challenges or troubles some of Harde’s own readings of indigenous children’s literature. Perhaps we might think of this tension as productive and inevitable, but I’m hesitant to do so given the reliance of literary texts on the publishing industry and practices of marketing. That most circulating American Indigenous children’s literature is written in English adds to the dilemma.
- Similarly, how does one define or even begin to identify spirituality? In what ways does the traditional (white hegemonic) academic context in which we operate pre-determine specific meaning and intentionality behind the term ‘spiritual’?
- One of Harde’s most powerful points for me, and one that I certainly found myself aligning with while looking through Trickster, was the relationship between gratitude and collectivity. Harde’s discussion of gratitude as motive, untidy, and an acknowledgement of loss, in part memory-making, felt especially important in terms of conceptualizing how indigenous communities present their relationships with nonhuman animals. I’m wondering here about the relationship of inter-species acknowledgement, gratitude, and spatiality. What kinds of spaces are fronted, imagined, or undone in ethics of gratitude and collectivity?
Hi Alexandra,
Yes, I think Harde may be too optimistic about published texts in the English Language and what they can achieve. I look forward to considering that together, as well as the vexed question of what is seen as spiritual/ counts as spiritual. Finally, I love your work on gratitude and collectivity….it reminds me a bit of Joshua Bennett’s work in animal studies. CH