Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine : An Ecological Study of Ojibwe Culture

Abstract

Louise Erdrich’s debut novel Love Medicine reflects cultural harmony, grief in ethnic community. The novel deals with tribal traditions other than familial bond. In the novel we find Native American’s concern toward land, home, language unlike western novel concerning toward unknown destination. Erdrich’s Love Medicine, was published in 1984, then revised and expanded for two subsequent publications in 1993 and 2009. The noteworthy point of this novel paves the way for the work of the narrative strategies with few narrators and short stories. The novel follows a small group of Chippewa natives in North Dakota over the course of sixty years.  The present paper is an attempt to study on Chippewa/Ojibwe tradition, their beliefs and practices in the novel by being ruled by the dominant cultural force. Moreover, this study delineates how ecological issues are relatable with the cultures and how the author has implemented the literary technique of ‘magic realism’ to delve into own customary traditions and real life experience. As identity, culture and landscape are three hot topics of present period in view of some contemporary ecological critics, this study aims to discuss how Erdrich has represented Chippewa ‘identity, culture and landscape’ in her novel by following ecological method. Generally ecological studies emancipate the idea of nature and human relationship by naturalizing the whole surroundings in a critical juncture, where human paths cross with nature while dealing with other lives in a society or tribe. In this paper we find such critical stage in Nector, Mary, Lipsha and June’s character portrayal through several incidents.