Magic and Realism the Tribal Imagination in Louise Erdrich's

ROSE HSIU-LI JUAN

Magic and Realism The Tribal Imagination in Louise Erdrich’s Novels1

In Native American fiction we find a »magic realism« of its own kind. »Native American magic realism«, for lack of a better term, stands out from Latin American magic realism because its marvelous elements presuppose communal faith and values. In Louise Erdrich’s novels, esp. The Bingo Palace, realism (real-life Indians and mixed-bloods in the twentieth century) makes way for fantasy (tall tale, ghost story, shape shifter, trickster character, mythic vision, spiritual experience), and vice versa. The »spiritual realism« or »shamanic realism«, resulting from native cultural prescription as well as the author’s conscious poetic choice, challenges the dichotomy of realism and anti-realism – for the fantastic is an integral part of tribal reality and a form of em- powerment.

1. Introduction

The distinction between realism and anti-realism in the literary sense may not suit contemporary Native American fiction since magic is integral to Native American culture and is profusely employed in the text. To support this ar- gument an exemplary reading of Louise Erdrich’s (b. 1954) novels, especially The Bingo Palace (1994), will be offered. In Native American fiction we find a magic realism of its own kind. The distinctive literary expression is a result of cultural necessity as well as a conscious poetic choice. In Erdrich’s works, the seemingly unforced fusion of realism (real-life Indians and mixed- bloods in the 20th century) and fantasy (tall tale, ghost story, shape shifter, trickster character, mythic vision, spiritual experience) bespeaks a tribal imagination commanding contemporary Native American literature, not for the purpose of experimenting as does avant-gardism, nor even for challenging realism as does anti-realism, but for confronting our limitedness in recogniz- ing tribal reality, both realistic and fantastic. Our habit of distinguishing literature as realistic or anti-realistic is challenged, and the relation between realism and anti-realism is made slippery when we come to a closer reading of contemporary Native American literature. To clear the ground, a general understanding of magic realism with re- gards to its form, content, and socio-cultural and political implications will first be investigated. Special attention will then be paid to Native American

1 I am very much indebted to the National Science Council in Taiwan for grants to support my research project on Native American literature and culture, of which this paper forms a part. 160 Rose Hsiu-li Juan culture and its strong spiritual tradition, which accounts for the magic quality in Native American literature. A reading of Erdrich’s novels, especially The Bingo Palace (1994), will follow to relate the magic element to her Chip- pewa/Anishinabe heritage. Magic is demonstrated to be inherent in Native American spiritual reality, and the transformational power in Native Ameri- can literature and culture is stressed in the hope of transcending the dichotomy of realist and extra-realist truth. Native American magic realism, for lack of a better term, stands out because its marvelous elements presuppose communal beliefs and values. Many creative writers contrive magic ingredients in their realist texts, and fabricate the marvelous by sleight of hand. This is, however, not the case with magic realism of a Native American kind. It may be called »spiritual realism« in Nora Baker Barry’s term or »shamanic realism« in Renato Oliva’s term.2 Oliva uses »shamanic realism« to describe Ben Okri’s works, whose African native culture is characteristic of a shamanic tradition, a feature shared by most native cultures. »Spiritual realism« is also a valid descriptive term for Native American magic realism. Many contemporary Native American writers resort to a magic realist way of writing in their attempt to do justice to the spiritual and the physical realities coexisting in their cultures. In their works this world and the spiritual world are inseparable. Their spiritual tradition, as found in the traditions of medicine man, vision quest, manito (non-human spirit), allows the texts to transcend »realism« and move into what might be called »spiritual realism«. By amalgamating the real and the magic, the Na- tive American writers are able to present a more holistic view of Indian reality. Native American cultural tradition is a storehouse of themes, myths, and symbols for Native American writers. Besides, for the contemporary Native American writers, notes Paula Gunn Allen, loyalty to the oral tradition and spiritual legacy has been »a major force in Indian resistance« to the dominant culture.3 It is also a source of authenticity. The literary rendition of Native American cultural elements thus fosters an awareness of tribal identity. In Sherman Alexie’s words, »Survival = Anger x Imagination. Imagination is

2 Renato Oliva, »Re-Dreaming the World: Ben Okri’s Shamanic Realism«, in Coterminous Worlds: Magical Realism and Contemporary Post-Colonial Literature in English, ed. by Elsa Linguanti, Francesco Casotti, and Carmen Concilio (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1999), pp. 171–196; Nora Baker Barry, »Postmodern Bears in the Texts of Gerald Vizenor«, MELUS, 27.3 (2002), 93–112 (p. 109). 3 Paula Gunn Allen, »The Sacred Hoop: A Contemporary Perspective«, in The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology, ed. by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm (Ath- ens and London: University of Georgia Press, 1996), pp. 241–263.