Question 1:

In his article, “Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial,” King discusses Robinson’s collection of stories. King explains that while the stories are written in English, “the patterns, metaphors, structures as well as the themes and characters come primarily from oral literature.” More than this, Robinson, he says “develops what we might want to call an oral syntax that defeats reader’s efforts to read the stories silently to themselves, a syntax that encourages readers to read aloud” and in so doing, “recreating at once the storyteller and the performance” (186). Read “Coyote Makes a Deal with King of England”, in Living by Stories. Read it silently, read it out loud, read it to a friend, and have a friend read it to you. See if you can discover how this oral syntax works to shape meaning for the story by shaping your reading and listening of the story. Write a blog about this reading/listening experience that provides references to the story.

Until this point I had not given much thought to the different experiences one encounters when reading, reading aloud and being read to.  In fact I don’t think I had ever tried reading aloud for the sake of personal intake prior to this experiment.  As someone who does not enjoy reading I have always found it difficult to retain information and to not daydream.  As a child i enjoyed being read to but have not had the pleasure as of late.  Below are my findings from this interesting literary experiment.

Reading (silently):

Again I will point out that I do not enjoy reading documents that I have not chosen to read myself.  I find it quite tedious actually.  As was the case when reading “Coyote Makes a Deal with King of England”.  I found my mind wandering to the vast stresses of life would frequently have to stop and backtrack.  I found it difficult to absorb.  My brain resisted.  Pleasure was not a result.

Reading aloud to self:

This I found to be a difficult task. Not the reading part but the listening to self part.  It seems I am incapable of doing both at the same time.  I knew the story already but feel as if I would have had more difficulty understanding had that been my first encounter with the literature.

Reading to another:

Much the same experience of reading aloud to myself.  I was more focused on the words than the meaning.

Having it read to me:

This is the winning method when it comes to retention, understanding, and enjoyment.  I was able to extract some level of pleasure from listening to rather than reading the story.

When I read to myself it feels more like a scientific practice in which I am looking for factual data.  Come to think of it I do enjoy reading nonfiction but not fiction.  However I enjoy listening to fictional stories it would seem.  Carlson speaks of a level of historical accuracy in western literature, that factual data that perhaps I was subconsciously seeking (57).  Admittedly history is far from being one hundred percent accurate but still the grade eleven textbooks I read about war and colonialism and such provided what were presented as concrete facts and concepts that my young brain was able to connect with.  Coyote was far too abstract for my liking and thus proved challenging at least when considering it a historical representation.

As I listened to the story I began to make sense of the symbolism embedded in Coyote’s tale.  Only as a listening activity was I able to dissect any historical context and make sense of it.  This could very much be a personal experience unique to me but somehow I feel that, even if not to the same degree, others would get the most out of listening.  This “association literature” that King discusses in “Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial” began to make sense.

For those of you who did not choose to write about this topic I recommend trying out the read-to-self versus listening exercise.

Which method was most enjoyable/productive for you?

Works Cited:

Carlson, Keith Thor. “Orality and Literacy: The ‘Black and White’ of Salish History.” Orality & Literacy: Reflectins Across Disciplines. Ed. Carlson, Kristina Fagna, & Natalia Khamemko-Frieson. Toronto: University of Toronto P, 2011. 43-72.

King, Thomas. “Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial.” Unhomely States: Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Mississauga, ON: Broadview, 2004. 183- 190.

Robinson, Harry. “Coyote Makes a Deal with the King Of England.” Living by Stories: a Journey of Landscape and Memory. Ed. Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2005. 64-85.