Disease, Dislocation and Deprivation in Louise Erdrich’s The Birchbark House: Exposing the White lies of the Civilizing Discourse
Authors:   Department of English, Institute of Integrated and Honors Studies, Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra., Pal Virender 
Published: February 2022

When the colonizers reached America, they came across people who held a totally different view of the world and their surroundings. In their world they were not the masters of the animate and inanimate world, rather they were a part of it. This world view did not conform with the culture of Europe, so they started denigrating them; but the reasons behind denigration of the Natives were deeper as exposed by the narratives of the Native Americans. The whites were not interested in de-culturing or a-culturing the Natives, they were interested in the land occupied by the natives. For usurping the land; they started denigrating the Natives and referred to them as uncivilized barbarians. Some of the narratives even featured them as cannibals. The natives did not have any idea about what was written about them, but now the tide has turned and the Natives have started writing narratives that project their world view. These narratives written by the Natives not only demolish stereotypes, but also try to revive their culture. The Native writers try to reorient the consciousness of the readers and instigate them to uncover the true history of the oppressed people. These kind of texts have been termed as ‘autoethnographic’ narratives. Louise Erdrich is one of the most prominent Native writers who is trying to construct a new identity of her people by scattering the mist created by the colonial narratives. The current paper is a study of Louise Erdrich’s novel The Birchbark House.When the colonizers reached America, they came across people who held a totally different view of the world and their surroundings. In their world they were not the masters of the animate and inanimate world, rather they were a part of it. This world view did not conform with the culture of Europe, so they started denigrating them; but the reasons behind denigration of the Natives were deeper as exposed by the narratives of the Native Americans. The whites were not interested in de-culturing or a-culturing the Natives, they were interested in the land occupied by the natives. For usurping the land; they started denigrating the Natives and referred to them as uncivilized barbarians. Some of the narratives even featured them as cannibals. The natives did not have any idea about what was written about them, but now the tide has turned and the Natives have started writing narratives that project their world view. These narratives written by the Natives not only demolish stereotypes, but also try to revive their culture. The Native writers try to reorient the consciousness of the readers and instigate them to uncover the true history of the oppressed people. These kind of texts have been termed as ‘autoethnographic’ narratives. Louise Erdrich is one of the most prominent Native writers who is trying to construct a new identity of her people by scattering the mist created by the colonial narratives. The current paper is a study of Louise Erdrich’s novel The Birchbark House.