Reading Week 15: Silko, Part A
Contemporary World Literature:
- 1968 was the high point of the protest movement and transformed contemporary society
- 1989 was the year many Eastern European countries overthrew communist regimes and the Berlin wall fell
- Advancements in women's rights, civil rights, gay rights, lead to more diverse literature
- Writers wanted to address all of the changes going on in the world so political allegory became popular
- With globalization, writers began to take their international audience into account and want everyone, even those outside their country, to read their work
Leslie Marmon Silko:
- 1948 to present
- Writes short fiction, novels, poetry and memoirs inspired by her Native American heritage.
Yellow Woman:
- A woman wakes up after sleeping with a man (named Silva) and he reveals he is an ancestral spirit called a Ka'tsina, and he begins to refer to her as "Yellow Woman". The narrator recognizes this as a character from an old myth/legend of four women: White Woman, Red Woman, Yellow Woman and Blue Woman (based on the types of corn).
- In the Yellow Woman legend, she left her old life behind to live with the Ka'tsina and returned later with twin boys. She tells Silva that things like that don't happen anymore, but he takes her anyways.
- He is forceful about making her stay, but one morning she wakes up and sees he is gone and she can escape. She starts to walk home but ends up back at Silva's house. It's not clear whether she chose to go back or was under some sort of trance/spell.
- They decide to go sell meat in Marquez. They run into a man who accuses Silva of having stolen his cattle, but it was actually the narrator. Silva tells her to go back up the mountain. She hears gunshots in the distance as she runs away.
- She ends up going back home, but feels guilty for leaving Silva. She lies to her family about where she was, and wishes she could tell her grandfather what happened because he loves Yellow Woman storied.
Seamus Heaney:
- 1939 to 2013
- Poet, a lot of his poetry inspired by the fact that he grew up in turbulent times
Digging: About manual labor, compares writing poetry as his way of doing work. As one uses a shovel to dig, he uses his pen to write
Anahorish: Describes a place in vivid detail. Name means "place of clear water" symbolizing the clarity he feels there
Broagh: Means riverbank. Describes a place that feels ominous.
- 1968 was the high point of the protest movement and transformed contemporary society
- 1989 was the year many Eastern European countries overthrew communist regimes and the Berlin wall fell
- Advancements in women's rights, civil rights, gay rights, lead to more diverse literature
- Writers wanted to address all of the changes going on in the world so political allegory became popular
- With globalization, writers began to take their international audience into account and want everyone, even those outside their country, to read their work
Leslie Marmon Silko:
- 1948 to present
- Writes short fiction, novels, poetry and memoirs inspired by her Native American heritage.
Yellow Woman:
- A woman wakes up after sleeping with a man (named Silva) and he reveals he is an ancestral spirit called a Ka'tsina, and he begins to refer to her as "Yellow Woman". The narrator recognizes this as a character from an old myth/legend of four women: White Woman, Red Woman, Yellow Woman and Blue Woman (based on the types of corn).
- In the Yellow Woman legend, she left her old life behind to live with the Ka'tsina and returned later with twin boys. She tells Silva that things like that don't happen anymore, but he takes her anyways.
- He is forceful about making her stay, but one morning she wakes up and sees he is gone and she can escape. She starts to walk home but ends up back at Silva's house. It's not clear whether she chose to go back or was under some sort of trance/spell.
- They decide to go sell meat in Marquez. They run into a man who accuses Silva of having stolen his cattle, but it was actually the narrator. Silva tells her to go back up the mountain. She hears gunshots in the distance as she runs away.
- She ends up going back home, but feels guilty for leaving Silva. She lies to her family about where she was, and wishes she could tell her grandfather what happened because he loves Yellow Woman storied.
Seamus Heaney:
- 1939 to 2013
- Poet, a lot of his poetry inspired by the fact that he grew up in turbulent times
Digging: About manual labor, compares writing poetry as his way of doing work. As one uses a shovel to dig, he uses his pen to write
Anahorish: Describes a place in vivid detail. Name means "place of clear water" symbolizing the clarity he feels there
Broagh: Means riverbank. Describes a place that feels ominous.
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