8A the university daily kansan
news
thursday, October 30, 2003
Writer teaches culture through humor, knowledge
Z. Gordon Straus/Kansan
By Alex Hoffman
ahoffman@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Poet, novelist and screenwriter Sherman Alexie explained what it meant to be a blue-collar liberal during his presentation at the Lied Center last night. Alexie's talk covered topics from what it means to be "Indian" to why he associates Oprah Winfrey with explosive bodily functions.
Sherman Alexie makes it clear he loves America.
"Yeah, you brought me Custer," said Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Native American. "But you also brought me Bruce Springsteen."
Alexie, a poet, author and screenwriter, spread his humor throughout his speech last night at the Lied Center.
He poked fun at his culture and other cultures, and his speech was interrupted with frequent laughter from a full crowd.
One anecdote reflected on the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Alexie said Native Americans could never be suicide bombers.
"Suicide bombing implies being on time," he said.
Another involved his wife telling him to shave before getting on airplanes to avoid suspicious looks.
"Don't be swarthy," he said was his wife's advice.
"It's a way of dealing with difficulty," he said. "But it's also a way of showing that Indian people have probably the greatest sense of humor I've ever encountered."
Alexie's humor is a kind of survival strategy, said Bernard Hirsch, associate professor of English.
Although he would sometimes wander off the subject with the anecdotes, the focus of Alexie's speech was his grandfather, who died in Okinawa, Japan, during World War II. Alexie's family heard he won nine medals for his service, and they wanted to find them.
Oprah Winfrey wanted Alexie to tell his story about his grandfather on her show, he said.
On the plane to her studios in Chicago, he got sick, so sick he would make trips to the bathroom every couple of minutes.
"People were terrified." he said.
He did Winfrey's interview as best he could, and at the end she revealed that they had his grandfather's medals. Not nine as they thought, but 12. He was overcome with emotion.
"I threw up," he said. "But being a recovering alcoholic who knows about projectile vomiting, I caught it."
In the majority of his written work and his films, Alexie wrestles with the relation between the traditional and contemporary of Native American life. Alexie's characters, particularly in his short stories, more often thwart the stereotypes rather than perpetuate them, Hirsch said.
"They're living a life which may be very different from their ancestors, and they wonder what to make of that," said Hirsch, who teaches a class on American Indian literature. "But I think the side that Alexie comes down on is that Indian cultures, like all cultures, are dynamic. They change."
Before his talk, Alexiem met with religious studies students from the University of Kansas at the green room in the Lied Center. The students were studying the
religious stereotypes that Native American face.
"I really admire him and thank him for being himself and speaking out," said Cassandra Sandrane, Chiloquin, Ore., graduate student.
Alexie admits he's a pacifist but said he knew about war and sacrifice through his grandfather. He wondered why only one member of Congress had a child serving in the military.
"I want you all to ask questions like that." he said.
The Hall Center for the Humanities organized the lecture at the Lied Center last night as part of its lecture series.
Alexie will be kept busy in Lawrence today. A Conversation with Sherman Alexie: Filmmaker, Poet, Novelist will take place at 10 a.m. in the Summerfield Room of the Adams Alumni Center. He will then give a talk called Demystifying Tonto at 1 p.m. at Haskell Indian Nations University.
Edited by Abby Sidesinger
We Buy, Sell & Trade USED & NEW Sports Equipment
WWW.JAYHAWKFLOWERS.COM 841-2999
841-PLAY 1029 Massachusetts