Reader: Natalie Leonard
Respondent: Meghan Patterson

“The New Apartment: Minneapolis”

By Linda Hogan

Pg 343-344  

      Background Information on Poet:

            Linda Hogan, a Chickasaw poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, and activist, is widely considered to be one of the most influential and provocative Native American figures in the contemporary American literary landscape. Not only is Hogan a prolific writer, but through her work she has distinguished herself as a political ideologist and an environmental/philosophical theorist. Her characteristically holistic representation of the human experience is important in that it centers on the concept that all life is interconnected; only by acknowledging and appreciating the relation of human life to other life forms, she says, can one fully respect and care for oneself.

Objective 3b Loss and Survival – In this poem there is the loss of a world that makes sense and a move to a universe that for the Native American Indian is utter chaos and destruction.

Objective 1c She uses Conscience to the dominant culture as a literary strategy  to gain voice and choice in the dominant culture which otherwise forgets the past.

Literary Term - Image - language that evokes one or all of the five senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching.  – The poem attempts to draw you into the world of this apartment with the imagery of sights, sounds and smells.

“Singing 49s”

            One line of the poem refers to “Singing 49s.”  This is a type of non-ceremonial song that became popular with many contemporary Native Americans.  “49s” are often sung at the end of a pow-wow, formal dance, or at the end of a party.  They combine English Lyrics with native sounds or vocals into some ironic love songs. (identified by Adelaide Sock, 2002 Poetry presentation)

Example of a 49:

o-oo-o-o-oo

oh yes, I love you honey

iya hana yo

I don’t care if you married sixteen times

I’ll get you yet

Hay-ha-a-a

Interpretation:

The speaker is keenly aware of her surroundings because she has somehow been transported to another world where even the laws of gravity do not apply.   She understands that she is not the first or last that will endure this move.  But, she knows that you can not truly “relocate” a world.  It’s like attempting to put the moon in prison – it will not last – something will happen.  She carries us through this world of chaos and pain and eventually brings us back to the world that ultimately makes sense – here were she is truly home.

Questions

How does she vocalize where or what home is past, present, and future?

To what does the color red refer to in the passage, “but be warned, the moon grows full again and the roofs of this town are all red?”

She gives a stark contrast between businessmen who hit their wives and the men who are tender fathers – are these Native Americans trying to assimilate or white men and how does this passage and this contrast fit with the meaning of the poem (home and family)?