The use of humor, dream visions and personal recollections as survival strategies in Sherman Alexie's "Reservation blues" and "The lone ranger and tonto fistfight in heaven"

Different in worldviews, Europeans and American Indians have opposed each other since their early contacts. Their dealings with each other, which were based on trade at first, have transformed into a relationship in which American Indians are brutalized and exploited. American Indians have been exposed to both internal and external colonization and assimilation methods of Europeans. In response, they have reacted to avoid assimilation and colonization; they have mostly struggled to keep their tribal identity and values, and they have developed survival strategies embracing their tribal heritage. In this respect, Sherman Alexie?s two works Reservation Blues and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven present American Indian characters who have suffered from the oppression of whites, and their survival strategies that have become a part of their lives. The aim of this study is to reveal and demonstrate, by focusing on Alexie?s works, how American Indians use dream visions and imaginations, which are also essential parts of American Indian worldview, to compensate for their suppressed and unfulfilled wishes; in addition, how they use humor to make reservation life bearable.With the purpose of representing American Indians? struggle to subvert white-dominance with varying strategies, firstly, I analyze the significance of dreams, visions, imaginations and humor for American Indians as the means of surviving. Subsequently, I explore the reflections and evidences of these mentioned survival strategies in the works Reservation Blues and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.