(Credit: Milan Podsedly from the performance of I Lost My Talk)
Hello everyone, my name is Audrey Kim, and I am a fifth year student with a double major in English literature and Psychology. As an avid blog-reader, a student on the brink of graduation, and an individual whose knowledge of Canadian literature more or less begins and ends with Anne of Green Gables, everything about this course and what it has to offer is new and exciting to me.
I have always secretly desired to build an online presence through a blog of my own, and being given the chance to develop my own voice within the safe haven of a classroom environment is both comforting and challenging at the same time. With graduation looming so closely around the corner, and the seemingly never-ending grind of tackling all the required courses for both majors reaching its peak in my last year, reading through the course resources and watching Dr. Patterson’s introductory video served as a pleasant surprise. Being given the opportunity to examine and uncover the stifled voices and stories of First Nations peoples with an unconventional perspective and medium is honestly quite thrilling, and I am beyond excited to embark on this journey with all of you.
The notions of storytelling and voice are what I find the most intriguing. The very nature of oration is deeply personal and moving, with every part of your being imbued within each chosen word and inflection. Each story you tell carries a piece of your soul with it, and this tradition is the bedrock of First Nations culture. This link provides further information in regards to the art of the oral tradition, and how as an oral society, each individual would rely on another for a collective knowledge built throughout generations. Just this last year, the highlight of the Indigenous Showcase at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa was the world premiere of I Lost My Talk, a powerful two-hour performance composed by John Estacio, based on the poem by Mi’kmaw elder and poet Rita Joe. Joe’s poem tells the story of the suffering she personally endured, but also serves as an outlet for her voice to help guide and inspire others towards the path of strength and healing.
With so many open channels of communication focused on Indigenous reconciliation, I hope to be able to gain a deeper understanding of Canadian literature and identity in this light.
I look forward to conversing with all of you,
Audrey
Works cited
Hanson, Erin. “Oral Traditions.” First Nations & Indigenous Studies, the University of British Columbia. n.d. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
Martin, Carl. “Spotlight on Indigenous Storytelling and Reconciliation.” National Arts Centre. 4 Jan. 2016. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.
Podsedly, Milan. “I Lost My Talk/Spirit Prevails.” 14 Jan. 2016. JPG file. 13 Sept. 2016.
Nice to meet you Audrey! Thank you so much for posting that link on the art of oral tradition. I like how it points out how the current bias that Western society has for Western literature, rather than that of oral tradition. While I think this is unfortunate one of the reasons why this maybe so is due to the very nature of orality being impermanent. This is why like you I am very excited to take this class due its focus on oral tradition, letting me finally participate in depth with a more atypical way of storytelling.
Hi Francisco, nice to meet you as well! I agree with you, I think that while impermanence may be a downside, especially in regards to the bias of Western supremacy, the impermanence of oration also allows for fluidity, and for change. No one story can be told exactly the same way, unless it is written so that the text remains stagnant, and I think this is one of the special and unique features of storytelling. Thank you for your comment, and I look forward to further conversing with you 🙂
Hey there, Audrey! Excellent first post. Like you, I am also exciting to practice building a web presence through this blog. I am also interested in your thoughts on oral tradition. As I looked at your link for I Lost My Talk, I found myself wishing I could watch it myself through a recording, which made me wonder if creating a record of a piece of oral storytelling changes the concept in anyway by imposing Western structures to the story.
Hello, Hope! I apologize for my late response, it was a very busy week at work with lots of overtime. Thank you for your comment! I know exactly what you mean about wishing you could watch the recording, I found myself feeling the exact same way as I read articles on the performance. You bring up an interesting point, in regards to imposing Western structures to the story, and I think that it does change the concept. In my opinion, one of the special features about storytelling is the idea that it is fluid and changes ever so slightly as it is passed from storyteller to storyteller, and recording it would be much like writing the story down so that it can be told in exactly the same way. Thank you for your insight, and I look forward to getting to dialogue more! 🙂
Hey Audrey! It’s nice to meet you! Congratulations on your graduation coming up! I wish you a lot of luck after graduation! What are you planning to do after you graduate? I agree that it’s really thrilling that we get to focus on the stories of First Nations people. They were forced to be silent for so long while we took their homes and colonized their land, and it’s important for them to have a voice. I’m also intrigued by the oral traditions and how important storytelling is to First Nations.
Hi Danielle! Thank you very much, I will definitely need the luck, haha. I am planning to pursue a career in Human Resources, which will most likely require another designation post-graduation. Of course, this plan is not set in stone, so I suppose I will see what happens! Thank you for mentioning your shared interest in oral traditions and storytelling; as it is not something that is familiar to me in my personal life, I am excited to learn more as well 🙂
Hello Audrey,
Welcome to our course of studies together. I am looking forward to learning more from your perspective and insights. Audrey – you should delete your Sample page – and Give this post a title. It is good that you have included the Assignment number – but also include titles for all of your posts. Thank you.
Hi Erika, thank you for your comment, and your advice! I have followed your instructions and deleted the Sample Page, as well as given this post a title.
Thank you 🙂
Hi Audrey,
I have always been interested in putting ideas out in the real world, but never felt confident about doing so. This course gives me a chance to put out content that isn’t too close to heart, but also try the platform out.
I find the most interesting part of the oration is the different perspectives we get to hear when someone tells a story. Their emphasis differs from another person who tells it and a lot of times we get to feel out what kind of person is speaking. What and why their focus on certain things. Of course, this is possible in written language, but since oration is generally based off of memory in the past, that really gives listeners an idea of the story teller.
Hi Jamie,
I completely agree! I am excited to become familiar with the ins and outs of blogging as well, and being able to do so in this type of setting makes me feel more confident than I would if I were to start my own personal blog.
Thank you for your insight into oration! I absolutely agree with your comment, I think it is intriguing that storytelling allows the audience to learn just as much about the storytellers themselves as the content of their stories. I am excited to delve deeper into this subject, and I look forward to conversing more 🙂