Power: A Novel

In the magical realism genre, the text is grounded in the real world but fantastical elements are considered normal within it. On one hand, magical realism has been linked with the Indigenous world view, which is shaped by myths and legends and informed by communal values and traditions; on the other hand, critics have argued that associating Indigenous culture with magical realism undermines the truth of Indigenous life and traditions (Bowers, Maggie Ann. “Magical Realism and Indigeneity.” Magical Realism and Literature, edited by Christopher Warnes and Kim Anderson Sasser. Cambridge University Press, 2020, pp. 49-63). In Power, Omishto has spiritual agency; her consciousness develops through active participation in human, natural, and cosmic realms. Her identity is collective, linked to her ancestors (both animal and human) rather than individual. As Omishto develops and moves from the Western to the Taiga world, she lets go of a Western view of the world to one that allows for spirituality using the conventions of the magical realist genre.

Omishto’s vision of the four ghostlike figures on the road brings to her consciousness her belief in the tribal mythos passed onto her by Ama. The matter-of-fact style used to describe her visionary experience and Ama’s lack of surprise and confirmation of the women as “messengers” naturalizes the supernatural in the narrative. In addition, Linda Hogan withholds authorial judgment or explanation of such events, exercising authorial reticence in order to leave the reader in a state of uncertainty, creating a dreamlike reality in which this vision is possible. In Power, elements that are conventionally linked to magical realism, such as Omishto’s vision of the four women, are also part of the novel’s “truth” about Indigenous knowledge, related with matter-of-factness.

All the natural forces in the novel, including the storm, the elements, and the animals, are personified, giving them agency and intent. This reflects the union of human and nonhuman realms in Omishto’s imagination. Furthermore, the collective history, philosophy, and stories of her people mingle with her ordinary lived experiences, and magic is an integral part of reality. This is a literary strategy of Indigenous representation that reconstructs suppressed cultural practices that radically differ from Western paradigms based on a separation of culture and nature and the natural and the supernatural.