Resistance Literature: A New Wave of Intellectual Engagement
So I'm walking through a bookstore in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico and I'm reading blurbs. I'm not going to blast any artists. That's not what I'm about. We all come from a different set of experiences. But why are mainstream book publisher publishing the same narrative over and over and over and over? These blurbs seeming lay out different storylines, but when you look at the macro's macro you start to see a pattern.
Maybe it's because I'm Native. But I want to see resistance. Marches and protests are great and if they show up in literature then fantastic, but what I'm proposing is literature that deconstructs the system. I'm talking about a symbolic code that will inform others on how to fight back, on what has worked for them in rearranging the parts in the system. For me, resistance isn't about destruction, but instead it's more about moving parts around.
The novel I'm working on now, Uncle Called Him Spider, shows a group of Natives (Kiowa, Cherokee, and Muskogee-Creek) battling with an overbearing boss. It's not done in a dismissive comedy routine to release your pressure valve, like those popular movies and television shows. I'm not trying to make you a complacent slave. I'm trying to show you the underground railroad. In the novel, you watch as Natives struggle with each other and with values imposed on them by this boss. You get to see exactly how they resist and you get to see how they discipline each other to teach resistance. The main character, Dean, takes something from each of his coworkers and empowers himself to stand up against this boss.How does it all end? Does he redeem himself and his coworkers? Well, once the novel has completed it's final stage of revision I'll be able to get it out to you. But for now know this: Resistance literature is the next wave of intellectual entertainment.How many artists will help me take up this cause? If you're interested in engaging in a diverse didactic calling which shows how fighting back works for you, then click on the social media icons below. Let's reach as many artists as we can.
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(Works Cited: Images borrowed from Wikimedia Commons)