ABSTRACT
In the chapter titled “A Tale from the Ah-Ah Country”, Elen Riot presents the figure of the trickster, who problematizes the relationship between truth and falsehood, making it difficult to distinguish what appears from what disappears. Like Gilman-Ševčík, Riot here builds on her own artistic practices, including the publication of short fiction as well as the creation of immersive gallery shows presenting an imaginary Himalayan tribe. This chapter imagines a folk literature in which that tribe, the Ah-Ah, come into being, exist and struggle for a period of time, and then disappear following an encounter with explorers. Through these episodes, the tribe resists simple binary distinctions and the pride that inspires them, remaining wise as they cultivate a beginner’s mind in which many new things are possible.
