‘THERE IS NO THERE THERE’ OR IS THERE? RECONTEXTUALIZING THE POST-RENAISSANCE URBAN NATIVE IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICA IN TOMMY ORANGE’S THERE THERE

Abstract

This thesis aims to recontextualize the Post-Native American Renaissance Urban Native in Tommy Orange’s There There. Published in 2018, the book is set in twenty-first century contemporary United States of America and it establishes itself as a ground-breaking novel in its representation of the Urban Native. There There attempts to reinterpret the Urban Native in the twenty-first century context as one that reflects the changing times, a strained relationship with a hegemonically-purported history, and a migration from the colonially defined reservation. It also brings to question the notion of a ‘there there’ and the presence of a value in the Oakland Urban Native community. In this thesis, I argue that Orange denounces a history of monolithic representations of the Native American identity by putting forth a realistic representation of the Urban Native in the contemporary era. I illustrate how this is achieved through Orange’s reassessment of falsified historical representations of the Native American. I also show how he employs aesthetics and narrative linkages to present the Urban Native’s complicated relationship with their identity and cultural authenticity, and how he approaches closure and resolution in the Urban Native’s search for a purpose and connection in the novel, which thus enables a greater appreciation for the ‘there there’ in the Urban Native individual and community as an integral aspect of our world.