Welcome to our Research Website!
General Introduction
Our group has decided to narrow our research focus towards the topic of location and space. In reference to how narratives are influenced and generated, we were inspired by Alison Calder’s intervention “ What Happened to Regionalism? ” and how it speaks to the importance of placing emphasis on the location of where a story forms and plays out. Calder eloquently explains that:
“If one aim of literary and cultural studies is to develop ways of thinking about the world that are present and helpful, then grounding our analysis in specific places—and seeing our analysis in the context of specific places—needs to be part of the picture. We don’t live generally, we live specifically, and in that specificity, I think, we may have power.” (113).
Area of Interest
We feel that there are many different layers to how this sentiment relates to our studies in this course, as well as the experiences that many of our peers have shared on their personal blogs. While many of us cannot truly understand what Indigenous cultures have experienced through colonization, we are all able to formulate thoughts on our encounters with the idea of home (or lack thereof), as well as how moving physically creates new exposure.
Some of the questions that we are excited to tackle include:
1) Different cultures (Indigenous and European specifically) have unique ways in which they formulate and communicate narratives. How influential is location in nurturing these differences? Can a change of location heavily influence a change in narrative form, or will we be forever affected by our innate habits?
2) People who are physically in the same space can still experience these places in very different ways. Why should we place emphasis on location if it is not a fixed variable?
3) How can we investigate the importance of characters who are stuck in multiple physical and metaphorical places at the same time? We want to explore the ideas behind liminal space/ terra nullius- in terms of how we identify our ideas of home with physical land, even when that land has been taken or claimed by others.
4) Being influenced by King’s objective of “narrative decolonization”, our group would like to explore the different creation stories in Green Grass, Running Water. The way in which these stories are able to coexist in one narrative is a captivating part of King’s novel. How does the harmonious blending of these different cultural stories help in decolonizing narrative? Does the way in which these stories exist in the same physical space allow for stronger storytelling?
The interview touches upon some of the concepts in our questions:
- King discusses his writing style and how it is affected by his cultural history as well as his modern day experiences as an Indigenous person.
- 9:30-Joseph Boyden, another Canadian author, discusses how you can create a deeper understanding of yourself through your ancestors’ stories. This is interesting because when we are thinking about location, that could also mean the location in time (example: different generations in different “locations”).
- King mentions humor as an aboriginal satire strategy (2:50) in terms of his writing style, used to deal with the history of colonialism (3:20). While humor makes light of the situation, he mentions that in some sense it deepens the tragedy felt.
Works Cited
Calder, Alison. “What Happened to Regionalism?” Canadian Literature, No. 204, Spring 2010, pp. 113-114.
Open book with sketches of homes sprouting out. Book Cover.
The Agenda with Steve Paikin. “Thomas King: An Indigenous Renaissance.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 21 Jul. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTiFCXK7iCQ.