After postcolonialism and feminism: Transindigenous project in the poetry of Joy Harjo

Abstract

Joy Harjo (1951) is an American writer of Creek origin, and an American Laureate (2019-2021), whose poetry is constructed as an elaborate healing ceremony addressed to the indigenous and non-native subjects. In Hardža's work, a strong pan-tribal sensibility can be observed, but also an interest in other marginalized communities that advocate self-determination, self-representation, historical continuity, and the preservation and promotion of specific cultures. Saying that the natives have always valued multiculturalism, Hardžo reminds that before colonization peoples cooperated and exchanged experiences and understands that globalization cannot build unity at the expense of killing different cultural voices in the interest of cultural totalitarianism. The unity of humanity will have to find a way among cultural diversity. While globalization requires universal values and global resources, creates new institutional links such as international organizations, integrated markets, transnational social networks, diversity does not impose a pattern, but requires respect and recognition of indigenous cultures, which makes it feel like a global citizen. For Hardžo, loving the country means decolonizing it so that the country is not only a place of oppression but also of opposition, so she considers the possibilities of connecting Third World poets, because if one form of oppression leads to another, to that extent one struggle is connected to another, despite different histories, locations and problems, so poets can create anti-hegemonic connections as oppositional forces within a unique transindigenous project.

Keywords

• holistic cosmogony
• postcolonialism
• feminism
• eco-feminism
• transindigenism