War and Violence

Reading David Treuer’s Prudence as Indigenous Historical Novel

Abstract

This article reads David Treuer's 2016 novel Prudence as Indigenous war fiction. Prudence collapses the distinctions between battle- and home-front, between past and present, between right and wrong. This collapse allows for an exploration of violence and war and its role in establishing and maintaining nationhood. Examining the role of Indigenous bodies within this context extends the cultural and political implications of war fiction beyond a mere critique of war in its immidiacy; instead it elaborates on the continuities of colonial violence within a global context, questioning the singularity of war and detailing the realities of Indigenous life within northern America.