Abstract

Linda Hogan’s novel Power explores the attempts of three scientific discourses—law, anthropology, and environmentalism, all of which rely on empirical evidence and search for causality in the object of study—to articulate the subjectivity of both the Native American (in this case, the Taigas) and the endangered Florida panther. I argue that Hogan’s narrative stages a rupture whereby the connection cannot be made between confessor and listener and wherein the testimony of the authority is continually confounded and interrupted by the subjects whose testimonies are solicited. More specifically, the connection cannot be made between anthropologist and Taiga Indian, between lawyer and wit- ness, or between environmentalist and panther.