A review by taylorpg
Reinventing the Enemy's Language: Contemporary Native Women's Writings of North America by

5.0

This book is one of the most eye opening, slap in the face novels I have ever read in my life! “Reinventing the Enemy’s Language” is a compilation of writings by different Native women. This book is an example of a term known as “survivance”. This term is a combination of the words survival and defiance. Through the stories you find that a lot of these women have survived events that you can’t even imaging and the fact that they are writing and sharing their stories is an act of defiance. They are saying “You do not have control over me.” These women are taking their situations and turning them into power. They are setting an example to younger Native women facing these issues, telling them that they will make it through and that they are not alone. The book touches on very traumatic topics such as, poverty, discrimination, and abuse, but it never gets boring because each woman’s story is completely different. So, even though you are reading similar themes each story is different and it is written in all kinds of mediums. Some stories are written as poems some as short stories. This book has become one of my favorite books of all time. Every element of this book changes you, it gives you new perspectives, new experiences, and really opens your eyes to the problems Native women face and hoe extreme the problems they face are.