Ridge, John Rollin - Peter G. Christensen (essay date 1991-1992)
Peter G. Christensen (essay date 1991-1992)
SOURCE: "Minority Interaction in John Rollin Ridge's The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta," in MELUS, University of Massachusetts, Summer, 1991-1992, pp. 61-72.
[In the following essay, Christensen analyzes Ridge's portrayal of different ethnic groups, including Mexicans, Chinese, and Native Americans, in Joaquín Murieta.]
The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta, the Celebrated California Bandit (1854) by John Rollin Ridge (1827-1867) begins two traditions in American literature. Not only is it the first novel written in English by a person of Native American ancestry, it is also the first novel by an American in English treating the Mexican community of post-Mexican War California.1 Surprisingly, critics of the novel have as yet failed to look closely at this cultural intersection and analyze Ridge's depiction of different ethnic groups in the novel.
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