By: Jennifer C. Loft, PhD Student in Global Gender Studies
What do you get when you cross intricately articulate representations of colonialism and imperialism, as found within various literary and performance texts, and one scholar’s incredible passion for knowledge production, communal responsibility, and critical Indigenous theory? You are gifted with Jodi A. Byrd’s magnificently theoretical text entitled, The Transit of Empire: Indigenous Critiques of Colonialism. In this text, Byrd offers an excellent critique of the current approach scholars of American studies are taking to understand the institutional structure of the United States empire. Although the study of U.S. imperialism used to be a predominantly “white-washed” perception of an already white-dominated system, Byrd makes the radical move of including the concept of “Indianness” as the basis for the trajectory of U.S. empire, both past and present. In undertaking this type of inclusionary and intersecting analysis, Byrd forces her readers to ask the following question: How do we work together, pushing aside all of our differences (whether they be racial, gender, class, etc.), to move beyond the traditional notions of United States empire?
In Transit of Empire, Byrd explains that the notion of “Indianness” allows the United States empire to outcast “newer” groups of people (such as Japanese Americans) so that the United States may colonize them, just as the they did with the original colonization of Indigenous peoples, who were cast as “Other.” Since ideas of “Indianness” have allowed the United States empire to create possibilities for further exclusionary practices, Byrd asserts that Indigenous peoples must be at the center of any analysis and theory that comes out of its colonized and appropriated lands. By performing this complex literary analysis, Byrd devises alternate methods to address problems associated with imperialism, such as systemic violence, political and judicial exclusion, and cultural appropriation.
On September 13, 2012, a combined class and research group meeting was held to discuss this work from Jodi A. Byrd. While the aforementioned themes of the text were discussed in depth, the most intriguing aspects of our conversation dealt with everyone’s personal reactions to the text. The group unanimously labeled the text an extraordinarily difficult read, one that would not be accessible to the everyday reader. This text demands attention and intense focus; each chapter is a battle to wrap one’s imagination around Byrd’s arguments and critiques. It was clear that many people in the group were also pushed far outside their comfort zones with this text, as many students exclaimed they had never thought about Indigenous peoples in this sense before, nor did they have much experience reading Indigenous critical theory. Discomfort aside, one of the best ways to learn is to push oneself far past one’s level of comfort and surface understanding. The most rewarding aspect of our discussion, and I only wish Dr. Byrd could know that this, is how much this text deeply affected those present in the group. Whether they learned a great deal about Indigenous critical theory by reading this text, began to think about the United States empire in a different manner, or were personally touched by the author’s commitment to knowledge production, those who read Transit of Empire experienced the magical journey that was Jodi A. Byrd’s text.
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