Some Native American writers enjoy being called Native American writers.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the pride some Native American writers take in their identity and heritage.
Toni Morrison's quote reflects the importance of cultural identity and recognition among Native American writers. It suggests that embracing the label of 'Native American writer' is not only a source of pride but also an acknowledgment of their unique perspectives and experiences that contribute to the broader literary landscape.
In practice
In a discussion about cultural representation in literature, this quote can remind us of the importance of identity.
There is a certain kind of peace that is not merely the absence of war. It is larger than that. The peace I am thinking of is not at the mercy of history's rule, nor is it a passive surrender to the status quo. The peace I am thinking of is the dance of an open mind when it engages another equally open one -- an activity that occurs most naturally, most often in the reading/writing world we live in. Accessible as it is, this particular kind of peace warrants vigilance.
You looking good." "Devil's confusion. He lets me look good long as I feel bad.
What do you say? There really are no words for that. There really aren't. Somebody tries to say, 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.' People say that to me. There's no language for it. Sorry doesn't do it. I think you should just hug people and mop their floor or something.
An innocent man is a sin before God. Inhuman and therefore untrustworthy. No man should live without absorbing the sins of his kind, the foul air of his innocence, even if it did wilt rows of angel trumpets and cause them to fall from their vines.
Like friendship, hatred needed more than physical intimacy; it wanted creativity and hard work to sustain itself
One of my kids was born in 1968. There were going to be political difficulties, but they were never going to have that level of hatred and contempt that my brothers and my sister and myself were exposed to.
I belong to Russian literature, but I am an American citizen, and I think it's the best possible combination.
Every novel is an equal collaboration between the writer and the reader and it is the only place in the world where two strangers can meet on terms of absolute intimacy.
It infuriates me that the work of white American writers can be universal and lay claim to classic texts, while black and female authors are ghetto-ized as 'other.'
I am not going to get into it myself, except to say (1) if I am writing "boy fiction," who are all those boys with breasts who keep turning up by the hundreds at my signings and readings? and (2) thank you, geek girls! I love you all.
A novel is a machine for generating interpretations.
Long books, when read, are usually overpraised, because the reader wishes to convince others and himself that he has not wasted his time.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.