Mediation and Multiple Narratives in Louise Erdrich's The Antelope's Wife

Abstract

The major thrust of this research is to examine how the narratological devices in Erdrich are The Antelope's Wife. In addition, certain knowledge about Native American literature is also used to strengthen methodological fulcrum of this research. The interconnection among various narrative tools and fusion of disparate narrative voices gives rise to a forum for negotiation. The notion of plurality and negotiation of disparate voices are examined at length in the novel, The Antelope's Wife. This study dwells upon the multifarious narrative techniques depicting essential aspects of the impossible reconciliation between two separate worlds represented by multiple voices. The strong traditional Native American threads and the weaker and weaker civilized Minneapolis coexist in the narrative. Erdrich’s contrast between the well-defined utterances manages to bring into focus the tremendously rich heritage of the Native American civilization as it is presented in The Antelope Wife. The diverse narrative structures constantly interweave. This interweaving creates a complex vista of the contemporary American society. The narrator is also equally oriented towards his native ritual, cults and tradition while undertaking a risky job of chasing and tracking the missing criminals. Native youths believe that there is problem in accepting diversity, difference, multiplicity and heterogeneity. They do not succeed in this attempt at cultural synthesis. They give value to naïve American culture, genealogy, racial ancestry and rituals.