Elucidating Abstract Concepts and Complexity in Louise Erdrich's "Love Medicine" through Metaphors of Quilts and Quilt Making

Autor/in	Weagel, Deborah
Titel	Elucidating Abstract Concepts and Complexity in Louise Erdrich's "Love Medicine" through Metaphors of Quilts and Quilt Making
Quelle	In: American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 31 (2007) 4, S.79-95 (17 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0161-6463
Schlagwörter	American Indian Literature; American Indian Culture; American Indians; American Indian Education; Intimacy; Medicine; United States Literature; Novels; Figurative Language; Text Structure; Intercultural Communication; North America; North Dakota + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? American Indian; Indianer; Intimität; Medizin; Novel; Roman; Textstruktur; Interkulturelle Kommunikation; Nordamerika
Abstract	Quilts have become a part of American Indian culture, and they are mentioned and even highlighted in certain works of contemporary Native American literature. Certain questions can be posed in regard to the inclusion of quilt references in contemporary American Indian novels. Do the quilts and the making of quilts have some type of metaphorical function in the texts? Is it possible for more complex concepts to be articulated and understood better through a tangible, concrete household item such as a quilt? How might a patchwork textile such as a quilt, which is essentially a non-Native art enthusiastically embraced by Native peoples, function as a mediator between white and indigenous cultures? Can the concept of a quilt help the reader better understand the novel's structure? In this article, the author addresses such questions by focusing on the novel "Love Medicine" [Louise Erdrich, New York: HarperPerennial, 1993], and demonstrates that the quilts in the narrative can be incorporated into metaphors that help elucidate more abstract ideas, such as wholeness. She also shows how the notion of a patchwork quilt, with its often-disparate parts, can illuminate the concept of a mixed blood and further clarify the novel's structure and complexity. She begins the article by presenting a brief history of quilt making among Native peoples in North America. (Contains 3 figures and 54 notes.) (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	American Indian Studies Center at UCLA. 3220 Campbell Hall, Box 951548, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1548. Tel: 310-825-7315; Fax: 310-206-7060; e-mail: sales@aisc.ucla.edu; Web site: http://www.books.aisc.ucla.edu/aicrj.html
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10