Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > Erdrich, Louise - James Ruppert (essay date Fall 1991)

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James Ruppert (essay date Fall 1991)

SOURCE: "Mediation and Multiple Narrative in Love Medicine," in North Dakota Quarterly, Vol. 59, No. 4, Fall, 1991, pp. 229-41.

[In the following essay, Ruppert explains the ways in which Erdrich allows readers of Love Medicine, both Native and non-Native American, to experience the Native perspective in the text.]

Love Medicine is a dazzling, personal, intense novel of survivors who struggle to define their own identities and fates in a world of mystery and human frailty. In her writing, Louise Erdrich both protects and celebrates this world. To assume effectively the roles of protector and celebrant, Erdrich must mediate between two conceptual frameworks, white and Native. But as a contemporary Native American writer, she appreciates and utilizes both epistemological codes. Erdrich has at her disposal both Native American and white codes at any moment in the creation of the text....

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1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. Peter Stitt (review date Winter 1984)
   2. Russell Banks (review date 1 November 1986)
   3. Louise Erdrich with Joseph Bruchac (interview date 1987)
   4. Christopher Vecsey (review date 4 November 1988)
   5. Thomas Matchie (essay date Summer 1989)
   6. Annie Finch (review date Summer 1990)
   7. James Ruppert (essay date Fall 1991)
   8. John S. Slack (essay date Summer 1993)
   9. Roberta Rubenstein (review date 14 November 1993)
   10. Sidner Larson (essay date 1993)
   11. Julie Tharp (essay date 1993)
   12. Lawrence Thornton (review date 16 January 1994)
   13. Susan Meisenhelder (essay date January 1994)
   14. Nancy J. Peterson (essay date October 1994)
   15. Sue Halpern (review date 16 April 1995)
   16. Mark Childress (review date 12 May 1996)
   17. Verlyn Klinkenborg (review date 16 June 1996)
   18. Julie Barak (essay date Fall 1996)
   19. Thomas Matchie (essay date Fall 1996)
   20. Susan Castillo (essay date Winter 1996)
4. Copyright

1. Louise Erdrich