Deconstruction Of Binary Oppositions In Green Grass, Running Water

Thomas king has been hailed as “the King of mixed-blood writers today” inthat his works are outstanding for their Indian ethnicity. As King s most famouswork, Green Grass, Running Water embodies salient Indian ethnicity. It depictshow a group of First Nations people, affected by western mainstream culture, lose,seek, and reestablish their cultural identities.With the approach of deconstructionism, this thesis aims to analyze how Kingdeconstructs the western traditional binary oppositions in Green Grass, RunningWater, by which he successfully subverts western hegemony and hierarchicalparadigm and presents traditional Indian culture. Binary oppositions are the waysthrough which westerners view the world. They hold that everything can bedivided into two opposite components. Accordingly, white people/colored people,humanity/nature, writing/orality form binary oppositions with the former rulingthe latter in each group. The binary oppositions are essentially hierarchicalsystems which can be subverted through deconstructionist approaches so as todissolve the western center and resist cultural hegemony.This thesis falls into five parts. The Introduction briefly introduces King sliterary accomplishments and the literary value of Green Grass, Running Water;then it reviews the different interpretations of the novel by foreign and domesticscholars; finally it gives explanations about deconstructionism and the frameworkof the thesis. The body of the thesis comprises three chapters. Chapter Onediscusses how King deconstructs the binary opposition between White people andFirst Nations people by rewriting images of the former and reconstructing those of the latter, by which he deprives Whites of their superiority and reveals FirstNations people s intelligence. Chapter Two analyzes how King deconstructs thebinary opposition between humanity and nature by exposing White people sdomination over nature and celebrating First Nations people s harmony with it, bywhich he condemns the view of nature of Whites and eulogizes that of FirstNations. Chapter Three argues that King deconstructs the binary oppositionbetween writing and orality by subverting western written authority andreconstructing native oral traditions, by which he reveals the disadvantages ofwestern written form and highlights native oral traditions. The Conclusion brieflyreviews the whole thesis and concludes that by deconstructing the three binaryoppositions above, King successfully subverts western hegemony and hierarchicalparadigm and promotes Indian culture.The study of Green Grass, Running Water from the perspective ofdeconstructionism can help readers not only have a better understanding of the text,but also see through the exclusivity of white culture, and appreciate the uniquecharm of traditional Indian culture.