Studies in the Literary Achievement of Louise Erdrich, Native American Writer: Fifteen Critical Essays

311 Pages·2009·12.46 MB·English

by  Brajesh Sawhney

STUDIES IN THE LITERARY ACHIEVEMENT
OF LOUISE ERDRICH,
NATIVE AMERICAN WRITER
STUDIES IN THE LITERARY ACHIEVEMENT
OF LOUISE ERDRICH,
NATIVE AMERICAN WRITER
Fifteen Critical Essays
Edited by
Brajesh Sawhney
With a Foreword by
James Ruppert
The Edwin Mellen Press
LewistonoQueenstono Lampeter
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Studies in the literary achievement of Louise Erdrich, Native American writer: fifteen
critical essays I edited by Brajesh Sawhney ; with a foreword by James Ruppert.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7734-4911-4
ISBN-IO: 0-7734-4911-6
I. Erdrich, Louise-Criticism and interpretation. 2. American fiction-Indian authors-
History and criticism. 3. Indians in literature. I. Sawhney, Brajesh.
PS3555.R42Z882009
8 13'. 54-dc22
2009005198
hors serie.
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Front cover illustration: "Chippewa Baby Carrier"
Courtesy: Flickr.com
Copyright © 2008 Brajesh Sawhney
All rights reserved. For information contact
The Edwin Mellen Press The Edwin Mellen Press
Box 450 Box 67
Lewiston, New York Queenston, Ontario
USA 14092-0450 CANADA LOS 1L O
The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd.
Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales
UNITED KINGDOM SA48 8LT
Printed in the United States of America
To my parents

CONTENTS
Foreword Professor James Ruppert i
Acknowledgements iii
Introduction 1
Brajesh Sawhney
1. Mauser's Illness 11
Medical Humor in Erdrich's Four Souls
Peter G. Beidler
Karezza 12
Spermatorrhea 15
Gonorrhea 16
Locomotor Ataxia, Melancholic Neuralgia, Chlorosis 19
Gas Poisoning, Addiction 21
Medical Humor 24
2. Louise Erdrich and American Indian Literary Nationalism 29
Alan R. Velie
3. Flannery O'Connor and Louise Erdrich 49
The Function of the Grotesque in Erdrich's Tracks
Thomas Matchie
4. A Hope for Miracles 63
Shifting Perspectives in Louise Erdrich's The Last Report on
the Miracles at Little No Horse
Annette Van Dyke
5. Trickster Narratives of the New World 75
Erdrich, Dorris, Columbus
Deborah Madsen
Of Trauma and Trickster 78
Louise Erdrich, Michael Dorris, Christopher Columbus 86
6. Plenty of food and no Government Agents 95
Perspectives on the Spirit World, Death and Dying in Louise
Erdrich's Writings
David T. McNab
Introduction 95
The Names and Goin' Home 96
Goin' Home... 97
The Indigenous Notion of Time 98
Louise Erdrich and the Spirit World, On Death and Dying 99
The Blue Jay's Dance 99
Tracks 101
Tales ofB urning Love 102
The Birchbark House 106
The Last Report on the Miracles at Lillie No Horse 109
Retrospect 112
7. Drums Make Connections 115
Trauma, Memory and Healing in Louise Erdrich' s The
Painted Drum
Barbara Hiles Mesle
8. Vestiges from the Early American Captivity Narratives 133
Captivity, Land and Identity in Louise Erdrich's Fiction
Holly Messitt
9. Real Names and Names that Fool the Dead 151
Erdrich's Onomastic Mysticism
Harry J. Brown
10. "To, Sew is to Pray" 165
Disgorging the Speech of the Creator
Melaine A. Hanson
Disgorgement 168
Entredeux 171
Jouissance Through Bisexual Discourse 175
Generosity 178
Herstory 182
II.Razing Little Houses or Re-envisionary History 187
Louise Erdrich' s Story of the American Frontier in The
Birchbark House and The Game of Silence
Gretchen Papazian
12."Power from the In-between" 213
Dialogic Encounters in The Antelope Wife and The Last
Report on the Miracles at Lillie No Horse
Rachel Lister
13. "Affection and Freedom and the Will to Risk" 233
Female Resistance and European/American Women in
Four Souls
Ute Lischke
14. "The human heart is every bit as tangled as our road" 243
Six Memorable characters in the Fiction of Louise Erdrich
Edited by Peter G. Beidler and Connie A. Jacobs
"A different person than the young woman I had known" 246
Evolving Characterization of Fleur Pillager
Gay Barton
"That animal sinking in her bones" 251
The Unforgettable June Kashpaw
Peter G. Beidler
"A singular joy" 256
The Memorable Mindscape of Kit Tatro
David T. McNab
"Exactly like an old-time Pillager" 260
Lulu Nanapush Morrissey Lamartine
Connie A. Jacobs
"The Divine in Mary Kashpaw" 265
A Tribute to Moral Beauty
Debra K. S. Barker
"So very alive to me" 270
Omakayas in The Birchbark House and
The Game ofS ilence
Ute Lischke
15. "I Meant to Have But Modest Needs" 275
Lousie Erdrich's The Last Report on the Miracles at
Little No Horse
Dee Horne
Index 293

FOREWORD
One of the signs of a writer of true genius is the way her work filters its way
into one's everyday consciousness. Last week not only did I teach two of Louise
Erdrich's works, but I voted on a ballot from the prestigious Modem Language
Association to honor her life's work. Certainly as an award winning author, she does
not need to be honored by an association oflanguage and literature professors, but her
position in American Literature is so well established that she cannot be ignored.
Images and insights from her novels continue to reverberate in my mind as I see the
beaded patterns of life and hear the old stories from the lips of those around me.
There has been much .written about her work, though as Dr. Sawhney observes
most of it has been on Love Medicine and Tracks, two fantastically rich novels.
Clearly there is a great need to explore her other works. This collection of excellent
essays redresses that neglect. I won't go over the contributions. Dr. Sawhney ably
discusses them in his introduction, but let me say, it is especially welcomed to see
scholarships that focus on The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, Four
Souls, The Painted Dnlm, and The Birchbark House. The essays in this collection
also pick up some newer theoretical approaches and apply them to Erdrich's works,
approaches which enrich and broaden our understandings of literature in general.
Moreover, they keep apace with Erdrich's growing and evolving position as a cultural
mediator. Her work continues to explore that intersection between native experience
and mainstream American experience with the hope of opening up more space for a
Native worldview to flourish. As she pushes into new genres and new forms, Erdrich
reminds us that great artists always push our understanding and appreciations. The
essays in this collection help us keep up with her development.