Omishto's Identity Crisis And Reconstruction In Power From The Perspective Of Trauma Theory

Linda Hogan(1947-)is a famous contemporary American Indian woman writer.In her works,Hogan blends in the traditional,indigenous perspective of the world,especially the natural world,which is entirely different from the white's.In fact,the western mainstream culture,in a strong position,leaves no room for traditional Indian culture,which results in the collision between these two cultures.And Hogan tries to find a way to tackle this problem in her writings.Her novel Power tells a story of Native Americans,experience,and Native Americans in this novel are faced with the discrepancy between these two totally different cultures.The protagonist Omishto is a typical representative among them.Based on Kai Erikson's,Cathy Caruth's,and Judith Herman's trauma theory,this thesis aims to analyze how Omishto,as a new generation of American Indian,achieves identity reconstruction after suffering from identity crisis.Struggling in identity crisis caused by individual trauma and collective trauma,Omishto extricates herself finally.The body of the thesis includes three chapters.Chapter One elaborates two manifestations of Omishto's identity crisis,namely,the disconnection with the outside and the cultural dilemma from the inside.Failing to draw near to her families,being unfamiliar with the tribe,and being marginalized by the mainstream society result in Omishto's alienation with the outside;under the influence of traditional Indian culture and western mainstream culture,Omishto hovers between these two cultures and is trapped in cultural dilemma.Chapter Two explores two causes of Omishto's identity crisis——individual trauma and collective trauma.Individual trauma suffered by Omishto mainly displays on the abnormal-family relationship:biological father's abandonment,mother's appendage towards men,and stepfather's harassment.Collective trauma suffered by Omishto is mainly manifested in the merciless oppression of the white towards Indians:bloody colonial history,as well as racial discrimination,land grab and culture hegemony in post-colonial period.Chapter Three expounds two strategies of Omishto's identity reconstruction.The first strategy is retelling traumatic memories,which includes exposing her stepfather Herm's crime to the police,exclaiming Herm's despicable behaviors face to face and making a conciliation with her mother,to some extent,through a long conversation.The second strategy is reuniting with the Taiga Clan.Omishto adheres to Ama Eton's traditional values,but she does not blindly follow Ama's futile attempt,which is integrating the contradiction between the Taiga world and white world,and she chooses to return to Taiga Clan both spiritually and physically.In the conclusion,the thesis attempts to point out that in Power through ingeniously combining the fate of individual Native American with the history of Native Americans,Hogan actively explores the strategies to survive in western mainstream society for contemporary Native Americans,that is,only when the Native Americans cling to their Indian root can they maintain their identity in the milieu encompassed by the mainstream society.