“Deadly conversions”: Louise Erdrich’s indictment of Catholicism in Tracks, Love Medicine, and The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse

This article presents a refutation of Catherine Rainwater’s seminal essay on spirituality in Louise Erdrich, contending that while Rainwater is correct to argue that Ojibwe and Catholic spirituality are presented as “conflicting codes” in Erdrich, she is wrong to argue that Erdrich does not “endorse...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Christianity & literature
Main Author: Ingraffia, Brian D. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Johns Hopkins University Press [2015]
In: Christianity & literature
RelBib Classification:BR Ancient religions of the Americas
CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations
CD Christianity and Culture
KBQ North America
TK Recent history
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:This article presents a refutation of Catherine Rainwater’s seminal essay on spirituality in Louise Erdrich, contending that while Rainwater is correct to argue that Ojibwe and Catholic spirituality are presented as “conflicting codes” in Erdrich, she is wrong to argue that Erdrich does not “endorse one theological view over the other.” I will argue that Erdrich does in fact endorse Ojibwe spirituality over Catholicism. By contrasting Pauline Puyat’s conversion to Catholicism first with Marie Lazarre’s rejection of Catholicism and then with Father Damien’s conversion to Ojibwe beliefs, this essay demonstrates that while Erdrich sees Native Americans’ conversion to Christianity as “deadly,” she represents the conversion of a Catholic priest to Native American spirituality as beneficial.
ISSN:2056-5666
Contains:Enthalten in: Christianity & literature
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0148333115577901