Red Dead Conventions: American Indian Transgeneric Fictions

This article examines the use of generic conventions, especially in the so-called transgeneric interventions, in American Indian literature. It also considers how such conventions are subverted or redefined by Indigenous writers. It begins with a discussion of Rockstar Game’s 2010 open world video game Red Dead Redemption and argues that it fetishizes genre at the site of the Indian absent presence. It then looks at diverse genres such as Wild West zombie video games, captivity narratives, magical realism, and speculative fiction ranging from horror to fantasy. Finally, it analyzes the ways in which disruptions and rearticulations of various genres affirm the imaginative possibilities of Indigenous peoples today.