The Trickster In Vizenor's

The Trickster

The terms mixedblood and trickster, in Vizenor´s conception, are transformed into metaphors that are trying to distort the stereotypes. Vizenor´s mixedblood is not the tormented target but, in contrary, turns into glorified “holotrope” and shape shifting figure that can travel through other worlds. As in the works of Faulkner and Marquez or in the work of Injun Joe by Mark Twain so the Vizenor´s mixedblood does not disappear in the black corners of American thinking but thrives in his dreams.

According to Bakhtin, we can see a demonstration of this humor and the technique of the trickster in the detailed descriptions of places, objects and situations. The trickster is the one who is able to make his world closer to the reader.

This is not the trickster in the word constructions of Paul Radin, the one who 'possesses no values, moral or social ... knows neither good nor evil yet is responsible for both, ' but the imaginative trickster, the one who cares to balance the world between terminal creeds and humor with unusual manners and ecstatic strategies."

The trickster, the shapeshifter is in the middle of everything. He or she connects the world of nature and people, the divinity and people and encourages us to imagine ourselves in a different way; he or she uses comedy and humor to keep the harmony in the world.

- Other destiny page 239

In the novels Bear Heart by G. Vizenor the trickster incarnates two different and contradictory characters. One character is deceptive, cruel, rude and intrudes, the other does mainly unintentional and sudden things that are in favor of the people and harm their enemies.

Other destiny page 238

Trickster is spread in many cultures but his mythological image is changing. In Africa, for instance, it is a spider, in India it is a monkey, Scandinavian trickster is depicted as the Loki god, and in America is portrayed as a coyote. His role is to bring chaos to the established order, to break the rules and cross