That the People Might Live: Native American Literatures and Native American Community

By Jace Weaver

Book Overview

Loyalty to the community is the highest value in Native American cultures, argues Jace Weaver. In That the People Might Live, he explores a wide range of Native American literature from 1768 to the present, taking this sense of community as both a starting point and a lens.
Weaver considers some of the best known Native American writers, such as Leslie Marmon Silko, Gerald Vizenor, and Vine Deloria, as well as many others who are receiving critical attention here for the first time. He contends that the single thing that most defines these authors' writings, and makes them deserving of study as a literature separate from the national literature of the United States, is their commitment to Native community and its survival. He terms this commitment "communitism"--a fusion of "community" and "activism." The Native American authors are engaged in an ongoing quest for community and write out of a passionate commitment to it. They write, literally, "that the People might live."
Drawing upon the best Native and non-Native scholarship (including the emerging postcolonial discourse), as well as a close reading of the writings themselves, Weaver adds his own provocative insights to help readers to a richer understanding of these too often neglected texts. A scholar of religion, he also sets this literature in the context of Native cultures and religious traditions, and explores the tensions between these traditions and Christianity.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019512037X
• ISBN13: 9780195120370
• Release Date: December 1997
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Some Basic Truths

Jace Weaver's contribution to Native American Literary criticism is monumental. The introduction to So That The People Might Live is not only informative but also pushes, explores, and expands upon what scholarly information is currently available regarding Native American writers and their literary contributions. Mr. Weaver speaks about some basic truths regarding Native American communities and these communities' connections to a Native American author's writing. Essentially he says "I am We"--A native person's sense of identity and/or responsibility toward writing, anything, is wrapped up in that persons individual as well as communal identity. Although an author may be writing as an individual s/he is always aware of his/her greater identity.The chapters that follow Mr. Weaver's introduction rehash some familiar ground but his information and diligent research is apparant and is, to a great extent, relevent as well as illuminating. All in all this book is definately worth the read and the buy for those who are serious about Native American Literature.