Ethnic literatures: Louise Erdrich

The idea of a melting pot in which all cultures mix and melt has long been left aside. Instead, the metaphor of the mosaic is more commonly used to refer to American culture: a country where different cultures coexist, side by side; each contributing to the whole, but keeping at the same time their distinctiveness.

This acceptance and respect of diversity has led to the description of America as MULTICULTURAL society. The main ethnic groups that are part of America's multiculturalism are African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. These terms are, of course, quite imprecise, as immigrants from Asia came from different countries, African slaves were brught from several parts of Africa, Hispanics may be of any of many Latin American countries, and Native Americans have very different ancestries, languages, cultures, etc.





Yet, all these groups contribute to the richness and variety of American multiculturalism, in literature as well as in other fields. Their writing came to public notice especially from the 1970s onwards. Much of the literature by ethnic American writers deals with the issue of identity (their social, racial, and individual identity). They write about looking for who they are, where they come from (so another important theme is coming to terms with the past), and what it means to be American, but also something else.

Many use post-modern literary techniques, a colloquial style that relates to the importance of oral cultures in their places / families of origin, and characters that aim at deconstructing the stereotypes that most WASP writers had presented before the 1970s.



The first contemporary novelist we will study is the Native American Louise Erdrich. In the power point presentation we used in class, you may find more information about her, the historical background, postmodern characteristics, main themes and a brief reference to the novel Love Medicine, in which "The Red Convertible" is included.