Leslie Marmon Silko's Storyteller

As American Indian writers frequently remind their readers, storytellers wield formidable power to affect the earth and its inhabitants. This power is the same medicine power that inheres in tribal expression such as chants, prayers, and ceremonial rituals. Leslie Marmon Silko, critics point out, modifies literary genres to create the most effective medicine power. When Silko’s Storyteller first appeared in 1981, critics were baffled by this complex text. Today it is a canonical work in the study of American Indian literature. The essays collected in this book, addressing both the original edition of Storyteller and the 2012 revision, use the growth in understanding of Native American literature in general and of Silko’s work in particular to unpack this fascinating work and its critical reception over the years.