Recreating the storytelling circle: N. Scott Momaday and Mario Vargas Llosa

Abstract

According to this paper, twentieth-century Native American fiction is characterised by social and aesthetic unity both among the characters of the tale and between the author and the reader. The latter is to be engaged in imaginative and interactive reading, filling the gaps left in the narrative by the storyteller. Thus the reader’s imagination becomes crucial for turning the story into a creative ongoing activity. When telling their stories, both N. Scott Momaday and Mario Vargas Llosa try to preserve the cultures of their origin by not only re-imagining the stories of old days but also by following the traditional way of interactive storytelling. By doing so, Momaday’s Way to Rainy Mountain and Llosa’s El hablador offer an alternative to ‘the monological one-voicedomination of the mainstream-culture text’. Through the use of language and imagination, these works invite the reader to pursue their quest for a ‘unified identity’.