America, Americas, America(s): Sherman Alexie and the Question of Accurate Representation

Abstract

Spokane writer Sherman Alexie’s poetic oeuvre has been marked by sustained problematizations of a triumphalist American nationalism and a challenging of glorified nationalist self-perceptions. Alexie’s poetic articulations, often dark, humorous and satirical, respond to various facets of the apparent normalcies crystallized as the American Nation. Despite the profusion of critical attention and praise Alexie’s poetic repertoire has garnered, questions of accurate depiction have emerged, with Native American critics like Gloria Bird accusing him of exaggeration and misrepresentation. In this regard, it remains to be examined whether aesthetics are privileged in his poems at the expense of a ‘realist’ representation as they purportedly provide a disruptive, alternative narrative of America. This article attempts to appraise the particularities of Sherman Alexie’s rebellion against dominant American representations, as well as the alleged problems in his poetic effort, through a study of his poems as well as of the scholarship around his work.