I Give You Back by Joy Harjo.

The Song of a Wounded Folk.

Proseminararbeit

Introduction to Literary Studies I

Univ.-Prof. Dr. phil. Nassim W. BALESTRINI, M.A.

SS 2019

Student: Carmen-Felicia AVRAM

ID Number:

Bachelorstudium Sprachwissenschaft

submitted on: 2019, 31st of July

Contents

1. Introduction................................................................................................................3
2. Close Reading............................................................................................................3
3. A New Historicist Reading of “I Give You Back”....................................................5
4. Conclusion..................................................................................................................9
5. Bibliography.............................................................................................................10
Declaration......................................................................................................................12

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1. Introduction

The oppression of Native American people started with the arrival of Columbus

to America and continued until today. Their lands were invaded, white people settled on

their territories, and entire tribes were massacred by the Union Army. The few survivors

were placed in reservations. Native Americans are disappearing, and this is what

concerns the most the contemporary female poet Joy Harjo.

She says in an interview with Kenton Robinson: “To write as an indigenous

person in a country in which we've been disappeared is in itself a political act. Justice

and the need to right what is wrong has always been a powerful impulse within me”. In

her works Harjo writes about the untold side of the American history, fighting against

the oblivion of the past, and for the healing of its wounds.

I am writing about her poem “I Give You Back”, and in this paper I am firstly

going to analyze the poetic devices of the text and secondly I am going to show that this

text is a chant of healing from a historical trauma because its structure is ritualistic and

it focuses on letting go of fear and creating a disturbing connection to a violent past.

2. Close Reading

The first five lines of this poems contain a collection of contrasts. In the first

line, fear is described through the oxymoron “beautiful and terrible”, in the third line, it

is personified as a twin, “beloved and hated” but the lyrical I no longer recognizes it as

sharing the same DNA. This point of view is also sustained by the metonymy in line 5

“you are not my blood anymore”. The lyrical I clearly doesn’t want to identify himself

with fear and wants to break all connections with it, therefore he sets fear free: “I

release you”.

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 The text can be divided in four parts, depending on the verbs and the tenses. The

first part, lines one to thirteen, focuses on the present tense of the transitive verb ‘to

release’. The second part, lines fourteen to twenty-two, shows the emotions of the

experiencer. Here, he finds motivation and power by repeating himself that he is strong

and courageous, as emphasized by the anaphora “I am not afraid”. In these lines the

verb ‘to be’ is used in present tense, in a negative form. The next three lines,

predominated by present perfect tense, past simple, and a row of paradoxes suggest that,

although the lyrical I has lived under “terrible fear”, he actually permitted himself to be

overwhelmed by those feelings (“I gave you the leash”, “I gave you the knife”, “I laid

myself across the fire”). All this hard time the speaker was conscious of the fact that his

freedom was in his own hands. Probably he was not enough vigorous to assert himself

with the fear, therefore he waited for the passing of time to strengthen him.

The last part of the text (lines 26 – 32) is an invocation written in imperative

(“But come here, fear”) in order to show that the fear has become powerless. The

internal rhyme “here, fear” also suggests the bravery of this calling. The last line

fortifies the victory of the lyrical I by the contrast between the terms “alive” and “afraid

of dying”.

In this poem, the most striking scheme is the anaphora, present in more than a

half of the verses. Although the poem is written in free verse and only occasionally can

few types of rhyme be found (eye rhyme in verses 20 and 21: ‘hated’ – ‘loved’ and

consonance in lines 25 and 26: ‘fire’-‘fear’), “I release you” and “I am not afraid” are

often repeated and together with the various patterns of rhythm, primarily anapestic and

trochaic feet, give the text the melody of a an incantation or a spell.

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3. A New Historicist Reading of “I Give You Back”

In order to better understand Harjo’s poem, I will apply the New Historical

Criticism on her text. New Historicism became popular in the 1980 due to the

awareness of the limits of Structuralism and Historicism. For Stephen Greenblatt, one of

the founders of this literary movement, it was of vital importance to analyze and

interpret a text through the lenses of the social and political context in which a piece of

literature appeared as well as through the experiences of the critics themselves. He

denies the objectivity of history, claiming that every author filters and processes the

events through their own socio-cultural background and autobiography. Therefore, the

meaning of a text is conveyed by an extrinsic reading. New Historicism focuses on the

relationship between knowledge (education as form of power) and authority (cf. Meyer

2011:188) and regards literature as a mirror of reality.

I selected New Historicism as a theory for answering my research questions

because this theory allows me to discuss the political context that lead to the creation of

this piece of literature and to analyze the non-literal texts of that historical time

according to the following principles and procedural steps: short research of the history

of Indian Americans and of the influence this particular type of text has had on the

political scene.

I will briefly analyze the history of the Indian tribe Creek because I want to find

out what caused its trauma in order to better understand Joy Harjo’s poem and the

personal lyric’s feelings.

My thesis statement central claim is that this text is a chant of healing from a

historical trauma, a song of empowerment, of liberation of fear because of its ritualistic

structure. My main arguments are the structure of the text, the calling out of the guilty

ones, and the well-known relationship between Indian culture and the world of spirits.

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These claims correspond with Elisabeth Archuleta’s idea of Indigenous feminist theory:

“An Indigenous feminist theory also presents strategies that empower, which includes

naming the enemy, "reinventing the enemy's language," and writing to survive. An

Indigenous feminist theory also reveals overarching characteristics such as

responsibility, the promotion of healing, and a call for survival” (2006:89). Joy Harjo’s

poem follows precisely these features, as detailed further down.

Regarding the tropes and schemes in this poem, it is easy to observe its

simplistic structure and vocabulary and it is fascinating to hear the melody of the verses,

the author was able to produce with only little stylistic effort. The author’s inclination

towards music has a clear and great influence upon her poems. “Poetry has roots in

music. Take a look at any longstanding poetic form. The roots will lead you to music”

(Joy Harjo- Interview by Kenton Robinson.). Harjo’s ‘minimalist’ style is also

described by Eloisa Valenzuela-Mendoza in her dissertation: “For Harjo poetry “’is a

sound art.’” Much of her work relies upon enjambment and even the occasional internal

rhyme” (2014: 96).

For a long time, Indigenous tribes have believed that English and writing meant

only domination and assimilation. But Native American Languages started to die,

threatening monolinguals to lose their tool for communication. The terms “reinventing

the enemy´s language” refers to the acceptance and use of English in order to “tell our

truths, to sing, to remember ourselves during these troubled times", to keep traditions

alive and to represent experiences. “For Indigenous women, English often reflects the

power of language to heal, to regenerate, and to recreate, correcting missing formation

and stereotypes” (Archuleta 2006: 90).

The author of this poem is an American Indian, belonging to the Creek

Muskogee. In this text the emotions are overwhelming, therefore I can speak of a

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personal lyric, just as Jenny Goodman does in her work Politics and the Personal Lyric

in the Poetry of Joy Harjo and C. D. Wright. Given these facts, I find the author’s

ethnicity and the history of her tribe of great importance. Even Harjo herself shows that

she is “concerned with her own transformation of historical and cultural materials” and

says: “I’m an artist, and it’s important to me that I create and incorporate that history"

(Goodman et al. 1994:41).

As Enciclopaedia Britannica describes, Creek is one of the five civilized tribes1

of the USA. It’s territory before colonization used to be large and fertile and it was

situated where nowadays Georgia and Louisiana are. “In 1813–14, when the Creek

War with the United States took place, some towns fought with the white colonizers and

some (the Red Sticks) against them. Upon defeat, the Creeks ceded 23,000,000 acres of

land (half of Alabama and part of southern Georgia); they were forcibly removed

to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in the 1830s”2. The Spanish invasion and this war

left deep scars in the memory of these people and their pain was transmitted over

generations.

The Poem “I Give You Back” was first published in 1983, the year the Creek

community grew stronger, as it can be read in an address by Principal Chief Cox to the

Muscogee People, on January 29, 1983 in Muscogee Nation News: “It is with

confidence that I inform all Tribal Members that the State of The Muscogee (Creek)

Nation is strong. Now is the time for unity. With continued effective leadership,

competent management, and citizen support, I feel sure that we will hold our place as

the most productive Tribal Government in the United States today.” Those time periods
1
“Five Civilized Tribes is a name white settlers gave to the Chickasaw, Choctaw,

Cherokee, Creek, and Seminoles in the 1800s after these Native American tribes

adopted Christianity and European customs” (Carson & Bonk 1999: 320).
2
See https://www.britannica.com/topic/Creek-people
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most likely coincide with the personal lyric’s need to unlock the power that dwelled

deep within her and unchain herself from terror.

The first step in order to achieve freedom is to identify and call out the guilty

ones and their atrocities, which is done in verses four to eight. The metaphor “I was

born with eyes that can never close” (lines 9 – 10) suggests a historical experience,

rather than a personal one; the memories of the war are in the genes of the lyrical I.

The experiencer repeatedly recalls the terrifying events of the past (lines 6 – 8)

and cannot forget what happened, unless the fear is ‘returned’ to the ones who brought

it. The ones who once had the power to oppress the Indian tribes must now fearfully

face the rise of their suppressors. The fear is ‘given back’ to them, making them

acknowledge their guilt for the sufferance they have caused.

A second step of the healing process is ‘chanting’ the mantra3 “I release you”

and “I am not afraid”. Through these, the persona gets stronger and finds the power to

withstand the forces of the terror. My claim is also sustained by the verbs in the lines 27

– 29, which are used in their negative form, as expression of authority over fear.

Through the personal example, the speaker encourages others to save themselves

from ‘themselves’. Resignation and compromise were a trap that have made fear the

master of their lives for generations. Standing up and confronting the past with its scars

is an act of freedom (lines 23 – 32).

The game of powers in this text takes an interesting turn. At first, the “white

soldiers” and the paralyzing fear they left behind are presented as dominant forces, but

3
“Mantra is, most concisely, a scared utterance, incantation, or invocation repeated

aloud or in meditation in order to bring about a prescribed effect, such as the calming of

the mind or a vision of a deity” (Smith 2005: 5676).

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in the end, the victory belongs to the persona and the roles exchange: “and you are so

afraid of dying”.

4. Conclusion

Joy Harjo’s poetry gives a voice to the pain and spilled blood of her people, by

opening up about fears and their sad history. “I Give You Back” could be the story of

everyone, the ‘medicine’ people need when despair is no longer bearable, a painkiller to

help living a decent life, a piece of advice: release the fear and be free! At the same

time, it evinces the relationship between oppression and suppression and the inversion

of powers.

This poem is a calling to improvement, to a fresh start and to activity, as Emily

Perry writes in her article: “One need look no further than Harjo herself to recognize the

importance of art in promoting national cohesion, social progress, and cultural

narrative.” She has been recently appointed as “the new US poet laureate, the first

Native American to be named to the post”, as Cowboys Indians, The Premier Magazine

of West reports.

The structure of the text, the choice of the vocabulary and all the scheme and

tropes are in accordance with my claim, that this poem is a song of recovery. The

themes of curing and social justice are very present in Harjo’s life and she expresses

them in her literary works: “This country is in need of deep healing. We’re in a

transformational moment in national history and earth history, so whichever way we

move is going to absolutely define us” (Harjo 2019).

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5. Bibliography

An Address By Principal Chief Cox to the Muscogee People. “State of the Muscogee

(Creek) Nation”. (1983, Jan. 23). Muscogee Nation News, vol. 11, nr. 2, p. 3.

[Online] https://archive.org/details/muscogee_1983/page/n9 [2019, June 29].

Archuleta, Elizabeth (2006). “I Give You Back: Indigenous Women Writing to

Survive.” Studies in American Indian Literatures 19(4), 88–114. [Online]

www.jstor.org/stable/20737352 [2019, May 29].

Carson, Thomas, and Mary Bonk. (1999). “Five Civilized Tribes.” In Gale

Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, vol. 1, Gale, p.

320. [Online] http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3406400320/GVRL?

u=ubgraz&sid=GVRL&xid=b4fc0eac [2019, July 28].

“Creek War”. (n.d.). Enciclopaedia Britannica. [Online]

https://www.britannica.com/event/Creek-War [2019, June 15].

Hughey, Jesse. (2019, June 19). “Joy Harjo named next U.S. Poet Laureate”. Cowboys

Indians. [Online] https://www.cowboysindians.com/2019/06/joy-harjo-named-

next-u-s-poet-laureate/ [2019, July 30].

Goodman, J., Harjo, J., & Wright, C. (1994). “Politics and the Personal Lyric in the

Poetry of Joy Harjo and C. D. Wright”. MELUS, 19(2), 35-56. [Online]

http://www.jstor.org/stable/467724 [2019, May 29].

Meyer, Michael. (2011). English and American Literatures. Stuttgart: UTB.

Robinson, Kenton. (2011, Oct. 11). “5 questions with Joy Harjo”. The Day. [Online]
https://www.theday.com/article/20111011/ENT02/310119999 [2019, July 28].

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Smith, Frederick M. (2005). “Mantra”. In Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones,

2nd ed., vol. 8, Macmillan Reference USA, pp. 5676-

5678. [Online] http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3424501935/GVRL?

u=ubgraz&sid=GVRL&xid=28ac451a [2019, July 28].

Valenzuela-Mendoza, Eloisa. (2014). Tending to the past: the historical poetics of Joy

Harjo and Natasha Trethewey. PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) thesis, University of

Iowa. [Online] https://doi.org/10.17077/etd.7zvqq7li [2019, June 15].

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Declaration

I hereby confirm that this paper entitled I Give You Back by Joy Harjo.

The Song of a Wounded Folk is the result of my own independent academic work. All

sources are cited correctly in this paper; quotations and paraphrases are acknowledged.

No material other than listed has been used.

I also certify that this paper or parts thereof have not been used previously as

examination material (by myself or anyone else) in another course at this or any other

university. I understand that any violation of this declaration will result in legal

consequences possibly leading to my expulsion from the University of Graz.

__________________________________

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