Dancing ghosts : Native American and Christian syncretism in Mary Austin's work / Mark T. Hoyer. [electronic resource]

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hoyer, Mark T. (Mark Thomas), 1959-

Series:

Western literature series

Western literature series Dancing ghosts

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Austin, Mary, 1868-1934--Characters--Indians.

Austin, Mary.

Austin, Mary, 1868-1934--Religion.

Literature and anthropology--California--History.

Literature and anthropology.

Christianity and literature--California--History.

Christianity and literature.

Indians of North America--California--Religion.

Indians of North America.

Western stories--History and criticism.

Western stories.

Indians in literature.

Ghost dance.

California--In literature.

California.

Literature and anthropology--California.

Christianity and literature--California.

Indians of North America--Religion--California.

Literature and anthropology--History and criticism--California.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxvii, 211 p. ) maps ;

Place of Publication:

Reno : University of Nevada Press, c1998.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

How did an Illinois Methodist homesteader in the West come to create one of the most significant cosmological syntheses in American literature? In this study, Hoyer draws on his own knowledge of biblical religion and Native American cultures to explore Austin's creation of the "mythology of the American continent" she so valued. Austin lived in and wrote about "the land of little rain," semiarid and arid parts of California and Nevada that were home to the Northern Paiute, Shoshone, Interior Chumash, and Yokut peoples. Hoyer makes new and provocative connections between Austin and spiritual figures like Wovoka, the prophet of the Ghost Dance religion, and writers like Zitkala-sa and Mourning Dove, and he provides a particularly fine reading of Cogowea.

Contents:

1. Prophets of a New West: Wovoka and Mary Austin

2. "To Bring the World into Divine Focus": Syncretic Prophecy in The Land of Little Rain

3. Weaving the Story: Northern Paiute Myth and The Basket Woman

4. Women Made of Words: Austin and Mourning Dove

5. Ritual Drama/Dramatic Ritual: Austin's "Indian Plays"

6. Dancing Ghosts: The Land of Little Rain as Syncretic Ritual

Afterword: Resurrection.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [197]-206) and index.

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

ISBN:

0-87417-380-9