The concept of national or cultural identity can define a literature - or limit it. William Butler Yeats, in promoting the Irish Renaissance, would write over and again "an Irish writer should write about things Irish" (a paraphrase). At the same time, he would make a careful distinction between the specifics of Ireland and Irish themes. In following Yeats advice, John Millington Synge would go on to write The Playboy of the Western World with such a concentration of theme into his characterizations that, it has been remarked, even a Russian peasant can understand his play. So it is with Louise Erdrich's episodic, saga-like novel Love Medicine. Her characters are Native American, Chippewa specifically, and her theme within the framework of the larger structures shaping the narrative is one of "Indian-ness." As a consequence, it is conjectured by this observer, probably even a homeboy from the Bronx could understand the story. By being, first and foremost, Chippewa Indians, Erdrich's characters become, above and beyond all else, universally human.
This thematic approach to literature - universality through ethnicity - sounds schizophrenic. In the hands of a lesser writer probably it is. Certainly some later chapters of Love Medicine exhibit a less-than-sure grasp of what the author intends to convey, moments when "Indian-ness" descends to didactic political polemic. These are neither the strengths of the novel nor near its heart. The Indian-ness that Erdrich captures - like the "Irishness" Yeats rhapsodized - is a permeating entity throughout the novel. It is a sense of humor that does not condescend to polemics and victimization, a view of love and family that is offhandedly romantic without being melodramatic.
...He was a hard nut. You know, some people fall right through the hole in their lives. It's invisible, but they come to it after time, never knowing where. ...his mind got so full it exploded.
How can...