Intersection of Fantasy & Native America

Amy H. Sturgis was one of the first folks I interviewed at this blog. So I was happy to get to interview her again, this time due to the release of The Intersection of Fantasy & Native America: From H.P. Lovecraft to Leslie Marmon Silko (Edited by Amy H. Sturgis and David D. Oberhelman). Sturgis always gives incredibly interesting and insightful answers–as well as being involved in an amazing wide variety of projects. Here’s the official description of this particular project: “A number of contemporary Native American authors incorporate elements of fantasy into their fiction, while several non-Native fantasy authors utilize elements of Native America in their storytelling. Nevertheless, few experts on fantasy consider American Indian works, and few experts on Native American studies explore the fantastic in literature. Now an international, multi-ethnic, and cross-disciplinary group of scholars investigates the meaningful ways in which fantasy and Native America intersect, examining classics by American Indian authors such as Louise Erdrich, Gerald Vizenor, and Leslie Marmon Silko, as well as non-Native fantasists such as H.P. Lovecraft, J.R.R. Tolkien, and J.K. Rowling. Thus these essayists pioneer new ways of thinking about fantasy texts by Native and non-Native authors, and challenge other academics, writers, and readers to do the same.” Now, on with the interview.

Tim O’Shea: Is the target audience for a book like this mainstream, literary scholars or a mixture of both? Why I ask is when I read chapter titles like “Vizenor the Trickster: Postmodernism Versus Terminal Creeds and Cultural Schizophrenia” I get a smidge intellectually intimidated (that’s meant as a compliment, not a slam)…

Amy H. Sturgis: I’m so glad you asked! We went to great pains to make certain this text would be accessible to interested lay readers as well as students and scholars of fantasy and/or Native American literature. Therefore, in each essay the author introduces and explains the books that he or she will discuss, and the essayists also define their terms carefully to avoid jargonism. This is especially important since our contributors come from such a wide range of fields, each of which employs its own unique terminology. In the essay you mention, Tripper Ryder employs some of the terms his subjects use, but he breaks down each of them in a reader-friendly manner before delving into his fascinating analysis of Gerald Vizenor’s fiction. Never fear! This book was designed to be for any and all who are interested in fantasy and Native America.

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