When the beasts spoke: the ecopoetics of Joy Harjo

Joy Harjo is one of the most prominent Native American poets and musicians of her generation. In this paper I examine how Harjo creates a fictional world of anthropomorphism, fable, and personification, where rocks and rivers, animals and plants, voice a strong connection to the Creek history and la...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor principal: Mancelos, João de (author)
Formato: article
Idioma:eng
Publicado em: 2016
Assuntos:
Texto completo:http://hdl.handle.net/10400.6/4298
País:Portugal
Oai:oai:ubibliorum.ubi.pt:10400.6/4298
Descrição
Resumo:Joy Harjo is one of the most prominent Native American poets and musicians of her generation. In this paper I examine how Harjo creates a fictional world of anthropomorphism, fable, and personification, where rocks and rivers, animals and plants, voice a strong connection to the Creek history and landscape. I discuss how these natural elements can be seen as live symbols of a counter-culture. In fact, Harjo creates, reconstructs and reinterprets myths connected with the land, in order to denounce the Anglo-American abuse and exploitation of the natural resources, and to reinforce her belief in a worldwide indigenous community. Consequently, her poetry is part of an ethnic ecopoetics, with a strong universal appeal.