Meaning & use
Survivance
Last updated
The act or condition of surviving, especially the active persistence and continuation of a culture or identity beyond mere endurance or victimhood.
See it in a sentence
Indigenous scholars use the term survivance to describe cultural resilience that is active rather than merely reactive.
The exhibit told a story of survivance rather than simple loss.
A note on using this word
Though it existed as an archaic legal term for survivorship, "survivance" was revived and reshaped by scholar Gerald Vizenor in Native American studies to mean an active, ongoing presence rather than passive survival.
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