Colonization has imposed drastic changes on indigenous societies in North America. This process has reverberated through cultural conceptions and constructions of social roles, particularly affecting the roles of elders and the old. This book charts these changes by analyzing representations of old age in American Indian literature. In comparing traditional stories with contemporary works, the analytical focus lies on establishing what developments can be observed in the conceptualizing of old age as visible in representations of social, political and cultural roles, such as that of the sage. Authors discussed include Sherman Alexie, Chrystos, Louise Erdrich, Janet Campbell Hale, N. Scott Momaday, Simon Ortiz, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lucy Tapahonso, Velma Wallis, and James Welch.

Philipp Kneis received his M.A. in American Studies and History from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; and his PhD from Potsdam University. Previous publications include The Emancipation of the Soul. Memes of Destiny in American Mythological Television (Peter Lang, 2010), and two volumes co-edited with Antje Dallmann and Reinhard Isensee, namely Envisioning American Utopias. Fictions of Science and Politics in Literature and Visual Culture (Peter Lang, 2011) and Picturing America. Trauma, Realism, Politics and Identity in American Visual Culture (Peter Lang, 2007). An overview of further publications can be found on pjkx.com. He currently works at Oregon State University.

Contents: Cultural Imagining of Old Age - Indian Identity and Tribal Elders - Traditional Oral Narratives - Traditional Stories in Transformation - Trickster Permutations: Saged Heroes and Resilient Elders - Aging Relations: Place and Belonging - Old Age as Loss: Cultural vs. Individual Memory - Haunted by Tradition.