Mourning Dove, Mourning Dove: A Salishan Autobiography

Lori Muntz (Iowa Wesleyan College)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.3: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1936

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Autobiography (literary)

Resources

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The third title by Mourning Dove is an example of yet another genre—autobiography. Although not published until decades after her death,

Mourning Dove: A Salishan Autobiography

(1990) was constructed from her manuscript. The order of material and its construction into chapters is due to Jay Miller’s conception; nonetheless, the work offers personal stories from Mourning Dove’s life as well as commentary about her Colville-Okanogan culture and intercultural dynamics.

Two examples demonstrate this complexity of information and perspectives: how the work discusses allotment and religion. Mourning Dove explains the division between her parents in response to allotment—her mother did not want to have allotments assigned to Mourning Dove and her siblings. However, their father went

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550 words

Citation: Muntz, Lori. "Mourning Dove: A Salishan Autobiography". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 March 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=25855, accessed 25 November 2024.]

Mourning Dove, Mourning Dove: A Salishan Autobiography

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