From Revenge to Justice: Perpetrator Trauma in Louise Erdrich's "The Round House"

Roldán Sevillano, Laura

Resumen: Louise Erdrich''s The Round House (2012) is not only an original detective novel but a moving postcolonial narrative which denounces the individual and collective trauma that sexism, gender violence and racism cause to Native American communities in the USA. The novel''s interest also lies in how Erdrich problematizes the stereotypes traditionally attached to Indians as well as the victim/victimizer dichotomy by including a protagonist who is simultaneously a victim and a perpetrator traumatized by his own acts. The purpose of this paper is precisely to explore the figure of the protagonist from the perspective of perpetrator trauma-a neglected approach by critics-through a non-Eurocentric viewpoint in line with the current tendency of the decolonization of trauma studies. By so doing, I will demonstrate that under the novel''s numerous layers lies Erdrich''s core denunciation: the complex and unfair long-process situation of (neo)colonialism that Native Americans still endure in the 21st century.

Idioma: Inglés

Año: 2016

Publicado en: Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos 2016, 20 (2016), 137-158
ISSN: 1133-309X

Originalmente disponible en: Texto completo de la revista

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.101 - Literature and Literary Theory (Q3)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/H05
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/FFI2015-65775-P

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)