Leslie Marmon Silko

First I'd like to start off with this video of Leslie Marmon Silko giving a lecture at ASU. It is a bit lengthy but I found it really nice to see her and hear Silko's voice. She really embodies the words printed on the page.

Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit is a really interesting collection of essays by Silko, and I enjoy her almost whimsical tone throughout the book. I enjoy essay collections very much because they have the capacity to relate form and content, or in this case, voice/tone and content, which is exactly what I see Silko doing. Her opening essay, "Interior and Exterior Landscapes: The Pueblo Migration Stories" was a perfect choice to start off the collection. It sets the stage and gives the reader a clear view on what the rest of the book will be about (the introduction helps too), and also gives the reader some clear insight on not only what type of writer Silko is, but also what kind of person and woman she is. Her commentary on the span of an objects life, how it dries up, turns into dust and is eventually returned to the earth, is a concept that I feel most people can relate to. Spirituality can be a topic that people like to argue about, but what is there to argue about that? Coming from a physical standpoint, isn't that exactly how life works? However, Silko takes it one more step and includes every possible object that we as humans can think of. I appreciate her inclusion of all things into her spiritual world, not separating objects into animate and inanimate, but "animate and less animate;" even rocks have life. Her observations of the world that she lives in is extraordinarily astute, and example of this being her discussion of the word landscape. " 'A portion of territory the eye can comprehend in a single view' does not correctly describe the relationship between the human being and his or her surroundings. This assumes the viewer is somehow outside or separate from the territory she or he surveys (Silko p27)." This was a really thought provoking passage for me, and it's these sort of insights that remind the reader that a certain level of self-awareness is important to include in our day to day life. They can help us recognize things that we wouldn't have before, large or small, animate or less animate.