GHOST DANCE RETOLD. From Sacred Resistance to Political Spectacle
GHOST DANCE RETOLD. From Sacred Resistance to Political Spectacle
Author(s): Rahmat NurcahyoSubject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Christian Theology and Religion, Philosophy, Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts, Economy, Customs / Folklore, Geography, Regional studies, Studies of Literature, Epistemology, Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Political Theory, Communication studies, Economic history, Modern Age, Theology and Religion, Contemporary Philosophy, Philosophy of Language, International relations/trade, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Culture and social structure , History and theory of sociology, Methodology and research technology, History of Religion, Identity of Collectives
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: Amerindian narratives; Ghost Dance; adaptation; postcolonial theory; narrative ethics
Summary/Abstract: This article investigates the transformation of Amerindian narratives through the adaptation of the Ghost Dance episode in Dwight Jon Zimmerman’s Saga of the Sioux (2011), a derivative work based on Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (1970). While Brown’s original is often commended for its emphasis on Indigenous perspectives and resistance, Zimmerman’s adaptation, intended for a younger audience, illustrates the consequences of narrative simplification, editorial framing, and ideological reframing. This study critically examines how themes of resistance, spirituality, and cultural identity embedded in the Ghost Dance are reinterpreted, diminished, or altered in the adaptation. Employing comparative textual analysis informed by postcolonial theory and narrative ethics, the research highlights how retellings of traumatic histories, especially by non-Indigenous authors, may simultaneously preserve and distort subaltern voices.
Journal: Review of International American Studies
- Issue Year: 19/2026
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 205-225
- Page Count: 21
- Language: English
