Introduction 1
Ⅰ.Louise Erdrich and the North Dakota Quartet 1
Ⅱ.Literature Review 5
Ⅲ.Focus of Research 11
Chapter One An Overview of the Trickster 15
Ⅰ.A Critical Overview of the Trickster 15
Ⅱ.A Literary Overview of the Trickster 21
Ⅲ.Tricksters in Erdrich's Quartet 32
Chapter Two Tricksters as Storytellers 43
Ⅰ.The Oral Tradition in Native American Literature 43
Ⅱ.The Oral Tradition in Erdrich's Works 46
Ⅲ.Storytelling as a Means of Survival 67
Chapter Three Tricksters as Tradition Bearers 73
Ⅰ.Tricksters and Native American Myths 73
Ⅱ.Tricksters and the Native American Humor 84
Ⅲ.Tricksters and the Chippewa Matrilineal Tradition 101
Chapter Four Tricksters as Cultural Survivors 123
Ⅰ.Erdrich and Cultural Hybridity 123
Ⅱ.The Trickster as New Mixed Blood 126
Ⅲ.Mixed Bloods and the Cultural Survival 146
Conclusion 162
Bibliography 167