MIMICRY AND AMBIVALENCE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF INDIGENOUS IDENTITY IN FIRST INDIAN ON THE MOON

Abstract

This research paper discusses First Indian on the Moon (1993) by Sherman Alexie, with the elements of mimicry and ambivalence on the creation of Indigenous identity. Being a hybrid literary text that incorporates poetry, narrative prose and some characteristics of oral storytelling, the text represents the nuances of the Indigenous cultural expression in the profile of a postcolonial setting. Though the works of Alexie have been talked extensively in context of identity, trauma, and reservation life, there is a gap in understanding how the postcolonial concepts of mimicry and ambivalence are manifested in the formation of Indigenous identity as relates to the current work. Thus, this paper aims at examining how these concepts operate in the text to mediate over cultural identity and question the pre-eminent colonial discourses.

The study follows a qualitative approach to research, which entails a close examination of the texts and thematic analysis. The analytical terms based on the postcolonial views which inform the study include the formulated ideas of mimicry and ambivalence by Homi K. Bhabha. The analysis explores the ways in which the text interacts with Euro-American literary traditions and renews them both in terms of Indigenous thinking and narration practices.

The results suggest that the mimicry in the text functions as a strategic act where hegemonic forms of culture are reproduced but twisted to allow the Indigenous voices to interfere with the established literary and institutional practice. Meanwhile, the ambivalence represents the tension and contradictions that Indigenous people may face as they move between colonization and cultural preservation. Through these dynamics, it becomes evident that Indigenous identity in the text is non-fixed but fluid, and a hybrid and is in a state of constant negotiation.

This paper concludes that First Indian on the Moon is a creation of Indigenous identity based on the dialectical nature of mimicry and ambivalence, the identity is performative, resilient and historical. The research adds to Indigenous literary studies and postcolonial theory by highlighting these processes and proving that the cultural offensive through literary hybridity to survive, resist, and make official self is the strategy focused on survival and self-representation.