Indigenous Women with a Cause. A Character Analysis of Linda Hogan’s Power and Louise Erdrich’s The Round House

Abstract

This thesis aims to explore theoretically the development of characterization in general and the coming of age genre in particular, before moving on to see how Linda Hogan and Louise Erdrich have utilized this genre in order to convey the issues they want to illuminate in Power and The Round House. Since these novels are by and about indigenous women, this thesis will argue the necessity for an extended paradigm in order to account for the complexity of the indigenous characters in Power and The Round House, based on an analysis of the concept 'intersectionality'. The main goal for this analysis is to suggest how similar readings of literature by and about indigenous women might become valuable contributions from feminist criticism in the ongoing fight for equal rights.