Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

A Tribute to Paula Gunn Allen (1939–2008)

A Tribute to Paula Gunn Allen (1939–2008) annette van dyke Out of her own body she pushed silver thread, light, air and carried it carefully on the dark, flying where nothing moved. Out of her body she extruded shining wire, life, and wove the light on the void. From beyond time, beyond oak trees and bright clear water flow, she was given the work of weaving the strands of her body, her pain, her vision into creation, and the gift of having created, to disappear. After her, the women and the men weave blankets into tales of life, memories of light and ladders, infinity-eyes, and rain. After her I sit on my laddered rain-bearing rug and mend the tear with string. Paula Gunn Allen, "Grandmother" So goes one of Paula Gunn Allen's early published poems. "Grandmother" not only introduces the reader to Allen's particular Laguna Pueblo idea of the sacred but also defines her approach to her work as a scholar, poet, novelist, theorist, political activist, and professor: "After her I sit on my laddered rain-bearing rug / and mend the tear with string." In the tradition of The Grandmother/Spider Woman/Thought Woman, Allen attempts to repair what has gone awry in her Native American culture http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Studies in American Indian Literatures University of Nebraska Press

A Tribute to Paula Gunn Allen (1939–2008)

Loading next page...
 
/lp/university-of-nebraska-press/a-tribute-to-paula-gunn-allen-1939-2008-sUua6YNakD

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
University of Nebraska Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 University of Nebraska Press
ISSN
1548-9590
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

annette van dyke Out of her own body she pushed silver thread, light, air and carried it carefully on the dark, flying where nothing moved. Out of her body she extruded shining wire, life, and wove the light on the void. From beyond time, beyond oak trees and bright clear water flow, she was given the work of weaving the strands of her body, her pain, her vision into creation, and the gift of having created, to disappear. After her, the women and the men weave blankets into tales of life, memories of light and ladders, infinity-eyes, and rain. After her I sit on my laddered rain-bearing rug and mend the tear with string. Paula Gunn Allen, "Grandmother" So goes one of Paula Gunn Allen's early published poems. "Grandmother" not only introduces the reader to Allen's particular Laguna Pueblo idea of the sacred but also defines her approach to her work as a scholar, poet, novelist, theorist, political activist, and professor: "After her I sit on my laddered rain-bearing rug / and mend the tear with string." In the tradition of The Grandmother/Spider Woman/Thought Woman, Allen attempts to repair what has gone awry in her Native American culture

Journal

Studies in American Indian LiteraturesUniversity of Nebraska Press

Published: Feb 1, 2008

There are no references for this article.