Intertextual Politics: Presence, Erasure, and the Hopi Language

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Authors

McElgunn, Hannah

Date

2021-11-23

Type

journal article

Language

en

Keyword

Social Sciences , Intertextuality , Indigenous languages , Hopi , Recontextualization

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Abstract

Forms of Hopi cultural knowledge, and the Hopi language in particular, circulate across Indigenous and settler speech communities. Circulation is a process of recontextualization. In connecting sites of usage, it brings into being different regimes of intertextuality that can either amplify or diminish Hopi presence. To illustrate this, I look at three instances in which outsiders recontextualize Hopi objects or language: archaeologists use potsherds to establish timelines, non-Hopi people use Hopi words as pet and brand names, and I use Hopi sentences for linguistic analysis in my own research. Each recontextualization threatens to erase Hopi presence in the here and now, which tribal members contest through acts of what I call indexical tethering.

Description

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: McElgunn, Hannah. 2021, “Intertextual politics.” American Ethnologist, 48(4): 432-45. https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.13038, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.13038. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.

Citation

McElgunn, Hannah. 2021, “Intertextual politics.” American Ethnologist, 48(4): 432-45. https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.13038

Publisher

American Anthropological Association

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