Document Type
Book
Publication Date
1990
Abstract
“The breed is an Indian who is not an Indian.”
Paula Gunn Allen, “A Stranger in My Own Life”
At the center of Paula Gunn Allen’s vision of self and art is an individual alienated within. For Allen the idea of the “breed” reflects a preoccupation with alienation as a personal and as an aesthetic experience. Allen’s biography, her understanding of Native American literature, and her works of art and criticism are informed by the consciousness that “breeds” are aliens to traditional Native Americans and yet also aliens among whites. To know Allen’s life and work is to reflect deeply on the meaning of “breed” in Native American experience. Also, to know her life and work is to gain peculiar insight into the transformative art concealed within the alien’s exceptionally acute visionary power. To stand outside, to be and yet not to be, becomes, at least in Allen’s case, a source of subtle self-exploration as well as extraordinary art.
Recommended Citation
Hanson, Elizabeth I. Paula Gunn Allen. Boise, ID: Boise State University, 1990. Digital. Western Writers Series, 96.