"Bead on an Anthill" by Delphine Red Shirt (1997)

SPOILERS AHEAD

There are many reasons to appreciate this memoir: the descriptions, the heart, the incorporation of Lakota culture and language. More than anything, this memoir feels like a collection of journal entries with added translations. The memoir is set up chronologically from when Red Shirt was a child through adolescence, teenagehood, and finally, adulthood. For each stage, Red Shirt reflects on how she was treated by her community based on her age, but also how she interacted with her own culture. In the first few chapters, Red Shirt is predominantly apathetic about Lakota language and culture, only to later participate in cultural practices later on that once bored her as a child (for example, the Sun Dance). These details function to show more than her relationship to her family and ancestors, it’s how the reader can follow her maturation into who she is currently.

Cyclicality, grief, and language are all recurring themes throughout the memoir. Even from the beginning chapter, “Bead on an Anthill,” the reader sees how reciprocity infiltrates all areas of Red Shirt’s life. She’s kind to the ants and in return, she is able to harvest beads that the carry back to their hill. Language can be wrapped up in a general “culture” theme, however, as a historically oral culture, it seems a bit too broad to do so. The Lakota language is slowly dying, which Red Shirt reflects upon when her grandfather passes, so Red Shirt’s use (and increased use as the narrative progresses, most seen in her “Waṡicuia ya he? Do you speak English?” chapter) and expansion of her own Lakota vocabulary extends beyond her. Red Shirt’s use of language in this book is a way to ensure that some Lakota language survives. Language also serves as a device to show the ironic “othering” that occurs with Indigenous populations. Though her ancestors have occupied these lands for centuries, she is often treated like an immigrant off the reservation, many of these moments are centered on communication. Speaking with accents, not having a full grasp of the English language going to school, not understanding English nuances (sarcasm, for example) are all ways Red Shirt looks at “belonging” in a neocolonial context.

Perhaps the most broad theme is one of grief. Red Shirt grieves for friends, immediate and extended family, land, culture, and language. Red Shirt also grieves for what she was never able to know, what was taken from her and her people before she was born. The aftermath of colonization permeates every pore of the narrative as she writes about life on the reservation, seeing sacred lands disgraced or claimed by the U.S. government, depression, isolation, and alcoholism (which leads to the death of her own sister). Red Shirt writes of an experience that relies on the idea of cyclicality to survive. The only way these things are not gone forever is when she is able to tie in the beliefs of cyclicality and reciprocity from her culture. It’s her honesty about loss and grief that makes the memoir have that “journal-y” feel.

While these language and cultural touchstones are pivotal to making the memoir work (not to mention core to Red Shirt’s being which is obviously important for a memoir), she tends to have a lot of moments that are repetitive. The effect of redefining the same words and phrases throughout the text (which is already quite short) is how it slows down the narrative to a crawl. I think that footnotes could have taken this memoir from a 3 out of 5 to a 4 out of 5 stars with ease. That being said, since it is a shorter memoir, it’s worth getting through the slow moments to see what Red Shirt has to share with her readers.

"Post-colonial, Queer: Theoretical Intersections" Edited by John C. Hawley (2001)

I can understand why this is considered a foundational text for anyone interested in post/neocolonial or queer studies. That being said, due to when this was published, it’s obvious in both the language and content that amendments are required, especially revolving around trans theory (or honestly the trans experience as a whole). An example of outdated content would be in the chapters about queerness in Thailand and the taboo that impacts both social and legal rights of the citizens. Luckily, this is now outdated as Thailand (just recently in the past few weeks) became the third Asian country (behind Nepal and Taiwan, the latter is also the focus of an essay in this book) to legalize gay marriage. Additionally, this book was published when the predominant term was “post-colonial,” something heavily criticized in later years as it implies that the impact of colonization has ended. As this is not the case (as also proven is not the case within the book itself), I will be using the term “neocolonial.”

However, this book did give a lot of insight into the over-erotizing of colonized cultures, particularly men. I have read about this phenomenon, but the focus was more specific to people of sub-Saharan descent. This book has several essays that look at this phenomenon across the Northern African continent and the Middle East, which definitely deserves more scholarship.

The essays I believe deserve further review and are most relevant to modern scholarship are:

• “Rupture or Continuity? The Internalization of Gay Identities” by Dennis Altman

• “Vacation Cruises; or, The Homoerotics of Orientalism” by Joseph Boone

• “Transcending Sexual Nationalism and Colonialism: Cultural Hybridization as Process of Sexual Politics in ‘90s Taiwan,” by Chong Kee Tan

• “Out in Africa” by Gaurav Desai

• “Broadening Postcolonial Studies/Decolonizing Queer Studies: Emerging ‘Queer’ Identities and Cultures in Southern Africa” by William J. Spurlin

Each of the above has building blocks for more contemporary scholarship I’ve reviewed in recent years. I think further study could be done and is necessary for many of the locations covered by the above essays as well. However, what I would argue is most significant about this collection is the integration of intersectionality and “third genders” which were common in numerous cultures before colonization (and will also be covered in other books I’m due to read, Redefining Realness by Janet Mock with her discussion on mahus in Hawaiian culture, for example).

Since the material is so outdated in so many areas, I only think this book is worth reading in a context similar to my own: as a foundational text that can be referred to when referencing more up-to-date scholarship.

"The Return" by Robert Bolaño (2010)

Bolaño's collection, while impressive, does not hold up throughout. By far, the most engaging stories are in the first half, with the exception of the titular story, "The Return."

The stories that I found most impactful were, "Snow," "William Burns," "Detectives," "Joanna Silvestri," and "The Return." Each of these stories is unique from the other following a Chilean immigrant in Russia, a man whose paranoia results in the death of an innocent, two men in conversation about past events while on patrol, a porn actress who catches feelings, and a man who observes the treatment of his recently deceased body as a ghost (similar to stories by both Blasim and Keret), respectively. This variety of the collection is what is most remarkable. None of these tales feel like they are from the same author, in the best way. Bolaño appears as though he can shape shift as he explores the most raw features of the human condition from numerous perspectives.

Unfortunately for the collection as a whole, this shape shifting is not sustainable. The biggest deficit of this collection is the feeling of repetition that begins to occur regarding plot and subject matter, which begins to water down the stories in the first half that felt (upon first reading) so fresh and revived. Another deficit of the collection (for my personal taste) is half of a double-edged sword: Bolaño's vast knowledge of European and Russian literature and poetry. While this knowledge enhances some of the stories (like "Snow" where the protagonist is constantly trying to keep up with the literary knowledge of his criminal colleagues) by adding characterization, in others it completely detracts from the purpose of the story altogether (most notably in his story "Photos" which becomes nearly indecipherable at points due to the rattling of names). The ending result is a collection that is half magnificent and half droning and pretentious, a clear sign of what can happen if you take one trait too far.

"A New Anatomy of Storyworlds: What Is, What If, As If" by Marie-Laurie Ryan (2022)

SPOILERS AHEAD

Ryan's main goal is to advocate for a new form of narratology: "Possible Worlds (PW) Theory." She advocates for this new theory by pointing out holes in adjacent theories that are typically used to dissect truth, fiction, narrators, plots, characters, and mimesis and diegesis. Chapters 1 - 6 address these concepts before she moves on to the potential applications of PW Theory in theoretical physics, current technology, narratology and transmedia, and future technology (such as AI) in the remaining 4 chapters.

When dissecting a new theory, there are thought experiments required to identify the highlights and pitfalls of the new ideology. Ryan is exceptional at identifying the weaknesses and strengths of her ideas, along with how PW Theory can blend with existing theories to try to fill the gap identified by science and technology. For anyone interested in narrative structure and ways to analyze reader thoughts, reactions, and contexts from the perspective of a writer or scholar, this could be a beneficial text if you can wade through the dense scholarly language reminiscent of the writings of Judith Butler.