Following the instructions in this lesson, set up your blog and write a short introduction (300 – 400 words) that includes at least two hyperlinks and a visual. This introduction should, 1) welcome your readers, 2) include a brief description of the course, and 3) some commentary on your expectations for this course of studies.
Hi there!
My name is Beatrice Lew, but you can call me Bea. I am a third year UBC student pursuing an honours in English and a minor in French. My parents emigrated from Hong Kong in 1995 and settled in Richmond, where I was born and raised. Located just south of Vancouver, Richmond is 50% Chinese, and a little like Chinatown on steroids. I grew up enjoying all the benefits of a first-generation immigrant Chinese upbringing, namely, weekly piano lessons and… Chinese school. This was my parents’ way of making sure that the second C in CBC still stood for Chinese (CBC = Canadian-born-Chinese). While ten years of language classes did little to increase my fluency, it definitely taught me a lot about my ethnic culture’s history and traditions. But what gave me the strongest sense of heritage weren’t 12th century Song dynasty poems, but the stories shared with me by my gong gong over dim sum and the tales spun by my father as we waited in the car while mum bought groceries. Obviously, I liked their stories a little too much, because, rather than choosing law, medicine or business, I ended up devoting my entire university career to reading books.
This blog documents my discoveries and encounters through ENGL 470A—a course that is all about stories. We will examine Native and European traditions of storytelling with particular regard to how they converge (and diverge) at the “crossroads” of Canadian literature. As well, through an exploration of various texts, we will address and dissect key issues such as representation and colonizing narratives. At the end of this course, our independent research projects will dovetail in an online group conference. I hope this blog will be a space for dialogue and I welcome your comments and input!
As a child, I found that the stories shared with me on weekends conveyed values and worldviews often differed vastly what I was taught Monday to Friday. I hope a course that studies the intersections between different traditions of storytelling will help me navigate this tension a little better.
As a literature student, I have been forced to read many, many books by dead white men as part of my degree requirements. Just looking at the reading list, I know that this course will be a breath of fresh air. One of my goals for ENGL 470A is to widen the scope of my exposure to Native texts and orature—while being careful to avoid either the “irreducible distance” or “presumptuous familiarity” that Helen Hoy cautions against in her How Should I Read These? Native Women Writers in Canada (11). Fun fact: Hoy happens to be the partner of Thomas King, whose book, The Truth About Stories is on our reading list!
ENGL 470A promises to be challenging, and at times uncomfortable, but ultimately rewarding. My hope is that by interrogating our own involvement with and ignorance of the dominant discourse, we can learn to listen to alternative voices—and have some great discussions.
Looking forward to learning with you!
Cheers,
Bea
Works Cited
Cover of “How should I read these?” Digital image. How Should I Read These? Google Books. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.
Ethnicity Hot Facts. 1st ed. Richmond: City of Richmond, 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.
Hoy, Helen. How Should I Read These?: Native Women Writers in Canada. Toronto: U of Toronto, 2001. Web.
Paterson, Erika. ENGL 470A Canadian Studies: Canadian Literary Genres. University of British Columbia, 2013. Web. 6 Jan. 2014.