An Analysis Of The Circular Narrative And Oral Narrative In House Made Of Dawn By Navarre Scott Momaday

Navarre Scott Momaday has incorporated the American Indian cultural elements such as the circle worship and oral tradition in his masterpiece House Made of Dawn, so the novel is characterized by circular narrative and oral narrative. This thesis makes an analysis of its narrative features from the theoretical framework of narratology proposed by the French scholar Gerald Genette, and the postcolonial critical concept of "hegemonic discourse" will also be applied in the analysis of the narrative of the novel. The novel sets the precedent of home-coming theme in American Indian literature; more importantly, the theme and the necessity of preserving and developing Native culture are reflected in the narrative technique, which is of great significance to the Native Renaissance.Circle worship is an important concept in American Indian culture, which indicates harmony, unity, and the circle of life. Momaday himself sees House Made of Dawn as a circle, and the novel is characterized by circular narrative and oral narrative. Firstly, the book shuttles between the past and the present. The narrative time is in a circular movement rather than in consistency with the story time, so the story ends at where it begins. The readers may get lost as analepsis and retrospection are frequently used, but they can find that the main plotline is constantly picked up and pushed forward. Meanwhile, Momaday’s repetition of his diction is not only an important feature of circular narrative, but is also influenced by Indian oral narrative tradition. By repetition, the author highlights the necessity of returning and conveys a sense of continuation. Moreover, Momaday uses different narrative markers to preserve oral tradition in the written form. The themes of oral tradition, such as the theme of land worship and the theme of metaphor, are embodied in the novel. By different oral narrators, the novel also represents the native history and tradition.As a native writer and scholar of oral tradition, Momaday does not simply invent the home-coming plots like many other American Indian writers. Instead, he combines American Indian cultural elements with literary narration in House Made of Dawn and strikes hegemonic discourse and highlights the theme of American Indian culture revival. It is Momaday who highlights the Indianness in American Indian literary works and finds a clear way out in the white-dominated culture.