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The Development of the Trickster in Children's Narrative

1977; University of Illinois Press; Volume: 90; Issue: 355 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/539019

1535-1882

David M. Abrams, Brian Sutton‐Smith,

Themes in Literature Analysis

THE RIBALD, ANTI-SOCIAL ACTIVITIES OF TRICKSTERS and the presence of these tales in cultures without heroic legends have led to the general interpretation of the trickster as reflecting the rudimentary, undifferentiated consciousness of less complex societies.' The classic illustration of this viewpoint is the Winnebago trickster Wakdjunkago, whose actions include his right arm fighting with his left; telling his anus to watch over roasting ducks as he sleeps; awakening with an erection holding up his blanket and mistaking it for the chief's banner; scattering villagers by breaking wind; and wading through his own excrement.2 The prevalence of so many obscene episodes has contributed not only to viewing the trickster as a product of a more primitive literary imagination, but also to the view of such content as indicative of disordered thought processes.3 A comparison of the Winnebago trickster