Summary of the Article

Postcolonial autobiographies are an attempt to recover a voice suppressed by decades

of dominance and criticize ongoing inequalities. They are a matter of cultural survival for
indigenous peoples who desire to reclaim and liberate their past from imperial remains.
Postcolonial life narratives serve as a medium to reinstate neglected chapters of history, but
reducing them to their sole political dimension risks simplifying them. Lenora Ledwon
argues that paradigms are irresponsible and tend to destroy Otherness, but how can we make
it impossible to annihilate the Other? Postcolonial autobiography is force majeure literature,
serving a political purpose and rewriting history from below, and can be read outside its
political dimension.

Indigenous literature of settler colonies is not postcolonial, but it provides a deeper

understanding of the contemporary indigenous issues in settler colonies. Bill Ashcroft argues
that postcolonial theories provide a strategy to understand the adaptations and
transformations of global modernities.

Wilma Mankiller was an educated woman who wrote her autobiography in collaboration with
Michael Wallis. She was of Dutch and Irish ancestry and Cherokee from her father. Her
autobiography symbolizes colonial remnants or an attempt to ease tensions and demonstrate
peace between the natives and the non-natives. Mudrooroo was part of a generation of "stolen
children" who were placed in Christian institutions to facilitate their assimilation. Mary
Durack, an Australian writer, welcomed him and encouraged him to write his first novel,
Wild Cat Falling, which contributed significantly to the Renaissance of Aboriginal literature.

Both authors, Cherokee and Australian Aboriginals, share a common fate of being
subjugated by white rules. Mankiller's collaboration with Wallis leads to a paradoxical
depiction of the self that is never freed from white supremacy. Mary Durack's preface
conveys a stereotyped idea of aboriginality in Mudrooroo.

Black Skin, White Pen

 Lenora Ledwon's article "Native American Life Stories and Authorship: Legal and
Ethical Issues" argues that Native American life stories are often written in collaboration with
a non-Native editor, translator, or transcriber, which can lead to the commodification and
objectification of the Other. Collaborations also raise thorny issues of copyright, as the law is
uneasy with the concept of more than one author for a single work. The preface to Wilma
Mankiller's autobiography is representative of this tension, with Michael Wallis portraying
the former chief of the Cherokee nation as a stereotyped version of the Indian.

The depiction of Wilma Mankiller's house creates a fictional aspect, creating a

distorted vision of the "Native American close to Nature" in harmony with all living things.
Wilma Mankiller is stereotyped for her appearance, but it also fuels the expectations of a
reader thirsting for a sort of "indianity". All the living creatures are said to gather around
Mankiller's house, even hawks, which paradoxically conveys the same kind of mental
snapshot of Native people. The most important details in this text are that there is a lack of
accurate information about native people, leading to negative stereotypes from old western
movies and romanticized paintings. The paradox is that this stereotyped image of the Indian
is so deeply anchored in the non-native perception that it is not even seen as such. To
complete the quest for indigenous authenticity, the reader is invited to question Mankiller's
life story and question any part of the narrative conveying a 'typically' native picture.

Mankiller's autobiography is a collaboration between an American writer and a

Cherokee woman, which is problematic because it is based on a dominant/dominated
relationship. Mankiller's narrative is marked by a moderate tone that calls for a dialogue
between both communities, but there is a lack of accurate information about native people.
Mankiller's authorial power is weakened by the paradoxical in-between made of "Red words
on a white page" and the four-hand dimension of the narrative leads the reader to question
postcolonial literary agency.

Mudrooroo was a mixed-race Australian who struggled to belong in both the white
world and the aboriginal's. His acceptance of aboriginality was an expression of a yearning
for belonging, but he also wanted to reject the values of white society. Mary Durack
encouraged and helped Mudrooroo to write and publish Wild Cat Falling, which was
universally regarded as the first novel by any writer of Aboriginal blood. The protagonist of
Wild Cat Falling fought exclusion by advocating for a radical singularity, as exemplified by the
words pronounced by the young Wild Cat when released from prison: "No one spares a
glance for the half breed delinquent, and this is how I want it."

The quest for identity is initiated negatively in a postcolonial context, where it is

necessary to know what one is not before trying to determine what one is. This discrepancy
between the self and the others is what gives birth to the quest for identity. Mary Durack
and white Australia have contributed to Mudrooroo's aboriginality, and today it is this
society that claims Mudrooroo's non-aboriginality. The most important details in this text
are that identity is founded on a triple tension: family/inner self/society, chance, place and
circumstance, and Mudrooroo's strategy of survival was to accept aboriginality and commit
himself to providing better knowledge about Aboriginal culture and literature. This triple
tension prevents the individual from enjoying complete control in the formation of identity,
and Mudrooroo's strategy was to accept aboriginality and commit himself to providing
better knowledge about Aboriginal culture and literature.

The controversy over the narrator's aboriginality in Mudrooroo's romanced

biography highlights the link between culture, politics and identity in postcolonial literature.
The narrator's feeling of inadequacy and the conflict between the self and the outside world
is expressed in the third chapter of the novel, where the narrator observes children making a
sand castle and remembers how he used to play with mud to build his own castles. The
narrator's feelings of inadequacy and the conflict between the self and the outside world are
expressed through subversion strategies. Mudrooroo's novel portrays the difficulties both
aboriginals and half-casts had to face when trying to fit in with white Australia. The narrator
is raised to the rank of an almighty god and creates a phantasmagorical city, but his
happiness turns to anger when white children make fun of him and destroy the world he has
created. The narrator finds a way to express his anger metaphorically through the
destruction of the white goblins.

Mankiller's autobiography shifts the focus to the invasion of her world by the
colonists, which resulted in the partial loss of tribal culture. Mankiller fought against this
disappearance and decided to write and share her people's tribal myths and history. Her
narrative is permeated with intertextual references to a mythical substratum, and her sense
of self is plural and composed of several layers deeply rooted in the collective history. Jürgen
argues that myths are the foundation of one's cultural identity and provide the strength to
face adversity by reminding them that they all belong. Comfort comes from the
remembering of both myths and tribal history.

The knowledge of the mythical substrata allows Native Americans to connect with an
ancestral past and anchor themselves in the reality of their world. The chapter "Revolution"
recalls the occupation of Alcatraz Island by Native Americans, which was done to remind the
whites that the land was ours before it was theirs. The myth has the same function as tribal
history, providing strength and hope to the Cherokees. Mankiller's autobiography has two
main functions: keeping the tribal culture alive while voicing the trauma left by colonization
and providing an account for acculturation.

Eugeen Roosens' argument suggests that acculturation gives rise to new forms of
identity that are representative of today's indigenous identities. Writing from the fringe is a
way of advocating one's emancipation from the center and one's place within. Being an
Indigenous person of the 21st century is also a matter of claiming one's individuality and
belonging to the contemporary world. Even if one agrees with Roosen's argument, the loss
of colonization remains a foundation of the postcolonial self. Constructing one's identity
while caught between two radically different worlds can be challenging and uneasy.

Mudrooroo's novel and postcolonial life-writings are a pathway towards liberation, as

they communicate what cannot be heard otherwise. Writing from the fringe is a counter-
discourse to neo-colonialism, but to what extent does words matter when they cannot be
expressed freely and fully? Is there political agency when one has to enslave language to be
heard?

Writing one's history gives shape to the indigenous claim, blurring the opposition
between language and reality. Fiction serves as a protective layer, allowing the author to
write about everything and reflect individual world-views, hidden desires, and half-conscious
motivations. Mudrooroo's Wild Cat Falling is a representative of this dimension, as the
protagonist struggles to find where he belongs. The protagonist's discussion with a white girl
is an example of this neocolonial discourse. The white girl thinks he can just will things to
happen, but she is blind to the social construct which restricts his choices. In 1965, it was
easier for a white individual to decide to do something with his life than for an Aboriginal.
 Mankiller and Mudrooroo's narratives demonstrate that politics and literature are
intertwined in postcolonial life-writings. Mankiller's autobiography reveals the collective
dimension of the self, which is represented by Arnold Krupat's synecdochic self. She insists
on the strong bond of the individual to the community, and the narrative alternates between
chapters focusing on the history of Cherokees and telling Mankiller's personal life.
Mudrooroo's novel denounces aboriginal issues through the lens of individuality. The
protagonist deals with a pathological loneliness and is unable to connect with anyone.

Western critics have often used a metareflexive analysis to understand postcolonial

life-writing. To counter the misunderstanding of the postcolonial self, postcolonial writers
have to write their life story so that their autobiographies become a force majeure. The
postcolonial narrative voice embraces the colonizer's point of view, and the literary work
metaphorically becomes a Promised Land where opposites can be reunited and reconciled.
 Re - summary

Postcolonial autobiographies are an attempt to recover a voice suppressed by

decades of dominance and criticize ongoing inequalities. They are a matter of cultural
survival for indigenous peoples who desire to reclaim and liberate their past from imperial
remains. Lenora Ledwon argues that paradigms are irresponsible and tend to destroy
Otherness, but how can we make it impossible to annihilate the Other? Postcolonial
autobiography is force majeure literature, serving a political purpose and rewriting history
from below. Indigenous literature of settler colonies is not postcolonial, but it provides a
deeper understanding of the contemporary indigenous issues in settler colonies.

Bill Ashcroft argues that postcolonial theories provide a strategy to understand the
adaptations and transformations of global modernities. Wilma Mankiller's autobiography
symbolizes colonial remnants or an attempt to ease tensions and demonstrate peace
between the natives and the non-natives. Mary Durack's preface conveys a stereotyped idea
of aboriginality in Mudrooroo.

Lenora Ledwon's article "Native American Life Stories and Authorship: Legal and
Ethical Issues" argues that Native American life stories are often written in collaboration with
a non-Native editor, translator, or transcriber, which can lead to the commodification and
objectification of the Other. The preface to Wilma Mankiller's autobiography is
representative of this tension, with Michael Wallis portraying the former chief of the
Cherokee nation as a stereotyped version of the Indian. There is a lack of accurate
information about native people, leading to negative stereotypes from old western movies
and romanticized paintings. To complete the quest for indigenous authenticity, the reader is
invited to question Mankiller's life story and any part of the narrative conveying a 'typically'
native picture.

Mudrooroo was a mixed-race Australian who struggled to belong in both the white
world and the aboriginal's. Mary Durack encouraged him to write and publish Wild Cat
Falling, which was universally regarded as the first novel by any writer of Aboriginal blood.
The quest for identity is initiated negatively in a postcolonial context, where it is necessary to
know what one is not before trying to determine what one is. Mudrooroo's strategy of
survival was to accept aboriginality and commit himself to providing better knowledge about
Aboriginal culture and literature. The controversy over the narrator's aboriginality in
Mudrooroo's romanced biography highlights the link between culture, politics and identity
in postcolonial literature.

The narrator's feelings of inadequacy and conflict between the self and the outside
world are expressed through subversion strategies. Mankiller's autobiography shifts the
focus to the invasion of her world by the colonists, which resulted in the partial loss of tribal
culture. Jürgen argues that myths are the foundation of one's cultural identity and provide
the strength to face adversity. Comfort comes from remembering both myths and tribal
history.

The knowledge of the mythical substrata allows Native Americans to connect with an
ancestral past and anchor themselves in the reality of their world. Mankiller's autobiography
has two main functions: keeping the tribal culture alive and voicing the trauma left by
colonization. Eugeen Roosens' argument suggests that acculturation gives rise to new forms
of identity. Writing from the fringe is a counter-discourse to neo-colonialism, but to what
extent does words matter when they cannot be expressed freely and fully? Writing one's
history gives shape to the indigenous claim, blurring the opposition between language and
reality.

Mankiller and Mudrooroo's narratives demonstrate that politics and literature are
intertwined in postcolonial life-writings. Mankiller's autobiography reveals the collective
dimension of the self, while Mudrooroo's novel denounces aboriginal issues through the
lens of individuality. To counter the misunderstanding of the postcolonial self, postcolonial
writers have to write their life story so that their autobiographies become a force majeure.