Synopses & Reviews
Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, the most important novel of the Native American Renaissance, is among the most most widely taught and studied novels in higher education today. In it, Silko recounts a young man's search for consolation in his tribe's history and traditions, and his resulting voyage of self-discovery and discovery of the world. The fourteen essays in this casebook include a variety of theoretical approaches and provide readers with crucial information, especially on Native American beliefs, that will enhance their understanding and appreciation of this contemporary classic. The collection also includes two interviews with Silko in which she explains the importance of the oral tradition and storytelling, along with autobiographical basis of the novel.
About the Author
Allan Chavkin is Professor of English at Southwest Texas State University. He has published four books and over thirty articles in various books and magazines.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Animals and Theme in Ceremony, Peter G. Beidler
3. Circular Design in Ceremony, Robert C. Bell
4. An Act of Attention: Event Structure in Ceremony, Elaine Jahner
5. Blue Medicine, Kenneth Lincoln
6. The Transformation: Tayo's Genealogy in Ceremony, John Purdy
7. Forms of Biculturalism in Southwestern Literature: The Work of Rudolfo Anaya and Leslie Marmon Silko, Reed Way Dasenbrock
8. Special Problems in Teaching Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, Paula Gunn Allen
9. "The Very Essence of Our Lives": Leslie Silko's Webs of Identity, Louis Owens
10. The Semiotics of Dwelling in Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, Catherine Rainwater
11. The Function of the Landscape of Ceremony, Robert M. Nelson
12. No Boundaries, Only Transitions: Ceremony, James Ruppert
13. Contested Ground: Nature, Narrative, and Native American Identity in Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, Rachel Stein
14. Leslie Marmon Silko, Jace Weaver
15. Silko's Arroyos as Mainstream: Processes and Implications of Canonical Identity, Kenneth M. Roemer
16. Leslie Marmon Silko, Laura Coltelli
17. Of Apricots, Orchids, and Wovoka: An Interview with Leslie Marmon Silko, Robin Cohen
18. Selected Bibliography