The Significance of the Trope of the Belly in Silko’s Ceremony

Leslie Marmon Silko has distinguished herself among storytellers who communicate and celebrate many Native American traditions with readers across the globe. Silko has been and continues to be fascinated by the ideas and legends of Native American culture. In her best novel to date, Ceremony, she follows Tayo, a troubled man, mixed raced halfwhite, half-Laguna, as he struggles to cope with post-traumatic stress syndrome of World War II. Silko uses wordplay and expressions to achieve and develop a unity of themes as well as complex emotions. Our research topic proposes to interrogate further Silko"s both fascinating and important use of the word "belly" as trope in different parts in her novel and its different connotations within context, those different parts becoming increasingly connected creating more specific literary cohesion. Silko also discusses the role of the body as a corporeal theme in the practices of opposition, resistance and cultural creativity (cf. the works of Jean and John Comaroff and Michel de Certeau). "Leslie Silko"s style, her powerful word choices and her strong cultural and ideological stances position her among the greatest writers of our time.