Dear L3 Students

Please find here below a few links to online material that should be helpful to understand the symbolism at the heart of Silko’s mythopeoic writing in Ceremony.

First, a nicely structured and detailed outline of the progression of the narrative in Ceremony, that includes links to interviews with Silko and other interesting sources for background information:

Notes on Ceremony

Then, three articles by scholars dealing with the function of landscape and the mythological imagery interweaved throughout the novel:

“The Feminine Landscape in Ceremony”

“The Function of the Landscape of Ceremony”

“Laguna Symbolic Geography and Silko’s Ceremony”

All three articles articulate the symbolism of the land with that of the characters and their associated colors. The third article gives detailed access to the Laguna mythology underlying the patterns of Silko’s novel. I recommend careful reading of the latter to try and get a glimpse of  a mythological representation of the world that is very different from Judeo-Christian myths. It provides deeper insight into aspects of the novel that might otherwise seem more obscure to most Western readers. Of course, there is much to be said about this novel from the standpoint of ecofeminist studies. I hope these articles stimulate your thoughts in that direction too, and provide insight into the beautiful tapestry of this novel by L. Marmon Silko.

Looking forward to our class on Friday

BM