Welcome!
My name is Eva Dvorak and I am a third-year English major. I have a love for literature and its ability to incite change and elicit emotion in readers. Recently I have especially enjoyed studying Canadian speculative fiction and discussing what Grace Dillion, an Anishinaabe scholar, calls “Indigenous Futurisms“. That being said, my ultimate passion is, and always has been animals. Therefore, I am pursuing admission to veterinary school after my undergraduate degree and am completing science prerequisites along with my English degree (a daunting but certainly worthwhile task).
I am excited to take advantage of technology’s ability to connect learners in order to thoroughly analyze Canadian literature in this course. In English 372 we will examine works of literature that address the presence of settler-colonial structures in Canada’s past and present. I expect that we will also consider the future of Canadian literature by looking at the decolonization and diversification of Canadian narratives. I hope that having the ability to collaborate through blog posts and comments will allow for significant and thought-provoking conversation, although, like many of my peers, I am not entirely confident in my technological abilities.
I am especially interested in the ways in which this course’s use of technology will allow for the consideration of many mediums of storytelling. Conversations about Canadian identity and settler-colonialism can be shared in many ways. Literature is certainly one medium that has the power to consider such topics. However, I am fascinated by the ways in which video games, art installations, virtual reality, and even music all have the ability to make significant contributions to scholarly discourse. Creating connections between the literature we will study in this course and other types of Canadian narratives will be an exciting way to utilize our access to technology and the internet.
I look forward to exploring Canadian literature with you!
Hi Eva, I really enjoyed your introductory post on your blog! It’s so impressive that you’re planning on entering veterinary school, while also learning about your passions in literature during your undergrad.
I, too, am excited to explore Canadian literature and the complexities of settler-colonialism through this internet-based course. I think it does invite a lot of cross-disciplinary thinking and exploration of different mediums for story-telling. I found the link you included about the new videogame, “Terra Nova,” to be incredibly interesting. I think it is so important that we are forced to consider our role in settler-colonialism, and being introduced to these narratives through different mediums can be really impactful. Like you, I see literature and art as a means of shaping culture and creating empathy and hope.
I’m curious, do you think that playing a videogame truly has the power to introduce individuals to questions of Canadian identity and colonialism in a manner that will inspire further study and self-reflection, or do you think there is a danger of players becoming desensitized to the troubling historical past of our country if they are introduced to it in such a surface level manner as a simple game?
Hi Georgia,
Thank you for your comments and question! I’m glad you found some of my links interesting. Your question is one that I have often thought about.
While I do believe that a video game does have the power to encourage conversation about Canadian identity and colonialism, I also absolutely agree that there is a danger of misinformation and desensitization. It is this danger that leads me to believe that a video game cannot be the only contributor to this kind of conversation. In order to prevent players from becoming desensitized or uninformed, they must be provided with historical context and further information. I would imagine that someone playing Terra Nova with no context would have a very different experience than someone who played it after reading the article I linked and the information provided by the game’s creator, Maize Longboat. Therefore, when used in collaboration with each other, I believe that many mediums can contribute positively to conversations about Canadian settler-colonialism.
This is just my opinion but I hope it helps to answer your question!
Hi Eva!
I really enjoyed reading your post. I was also in the Indigenous Speculative Fiction course and found the idea of futurity very interesting. What stood out to me most in the course was how Indigenous peoples often have no presence in futuristic narratives reflecting the greater colonial idea that Indigenous peoples are a thing of the past. It will be interesting to see how the novels of this course from various perspectives (Indigenous and settler) imagine both the past, present, and future.
I find your passion for other forms of art in addition to literature interesting because I also agree that they have the same capacity to change scholarly discourse. I was in an environmental justice course the last term and one of the most important things we learned was the power the arts have in making valuable change. For example, not just understanding facts and science and history but connecting with human emotion and learning other ways of living in the world.
I look forward to reading your future posts!
-Jade
Hi Jade!
I remember you from the Indigenous Speculative Fiction course and am excited to work with you again. It is so interesting to hear that your environmental justice course touched on the role that the arts have in promoting social and political change. Hearing about that is very encouraging and reaffirms the importance of what we are learning!
I can’t wait to read more from you!
Hi Eva,
Wow, you have some very great insights! I will definitely be checking your blog to hear more from your unique perspective.
I found your example of video games as sources of scholarly discourse incredibly eye opening. Not going to lie, until recently I have been a Mario-only video game player so my experience is limited. However, more recently I have branched out into video games with story lines that require an understanding of the world in which they are set. An example pertaining to this course that I found was in an article by Elizabeth LaPensee. LaPansee discusses a touch screen game called “Gathering Native Foods”. In this game players lose if they gather too many berries or salmon too fast. This is because the Indigenous people have a great respect for the land and only take what is needed and no more (http://theconversation.com/video-games-encourage-indigenous-cultural-expression-74138). It is incredibly educational because it challenges our assumptions (I would have picked too many berries to stock pile them) and requires an understanding of the rules that the game is based on or in this case, the cultural norms and practices of Indigenous people.
I am also very interested in the importance placed on animals in Indigenous culture. I’m assuming this will be of interest to you too! My view of Ravens was forever altered when I heard the story of how the Raven changed the world (https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/totems-to-turquoise/native-american-cosmology/raven-the-trickster). Do you think this course will have an impact on your time in veterinary school? I think this course will challenge me because I have a hard time marrying the concepts of education on Indigenous culture and technology (specifically the www). I would imagine the same challenge applies with veterinary medicine and Indigenous culture!
Thanks for your time,
Emily
Works Cited:
Raven the Trickster.” Amarican Museum of Natural History. https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/totems-to-turquoise/native-american-cosmology/raven-the-trickster. Accessed 13 Jan 2020.
“Video Games Encourage Indigenous Cultural Expression.” The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/video-games-encourage-indigenous-cultural-expression-74138. Accessed 13 Jan 2020.
Hi Emily,
I am thrilled that you found another video game that is relevant to this course! I have never heard of it before but it seems to be very well thought out and educational.
I really appreciate you sharing a link to the story of The Raven. It is especially relevant because I have worked at an avian veterinary clinic for the last year and a half. Despite this, it has never occurred to me to consider the cultural significance of some of the birds I handle. The link you shared was a very insightful way of connecting this course to something in my daily life. I work primarily with macaws and so after reading your comment decided to do some research on them. I was expecting to read about their cultural significance in Latin American cultures but was surprised when I found stories from Indigenous groups here in North America (specifically in the state of New Mexico). Here is a link to that site if you’re interested: http://www.native-languages.org/legends-macaw.htm. Coincidentally, the story from this particular Indigenous group is about the origins of the raven and the macaw.
I think that your question about whether this course will affect my pursuit of veterinary school is answered by my previous paragraph! Further insight into the cultural significance of different animals may help people to remember to treat them with the dignity that they deserve. It is exciting to make connections between topics that, at first glance, seem to be fairly unrelated. I hope that we are able to make such connections between Indigenous culture and technology because, as you said, they don’t necessarily seem cohesive at all times.
Thanks so much for your insightful comment!
Works Cited:
“Native American Macaw Mythology.” Native American Indian Macaw Legends, Meaning and Symbolism from the Myths of Many Tribes, http://www.native-languages.org/legends-macaw.htm.
Thanks for the link Eva, very cool!
Hi Eva! I really enjoyed your introductory post. You are very eloquent and well spoken, so kudos on that.
As I mention in my post, I’m very inexperienced with this subject matter and I share a lot of your excitement when it comes to learning about Indigenous culture, history, and literature. Although, it seems like you have more past experience with the subject than I do! Maybe we can work together at some point this term.
Your passion for other art forms is another thing that I can relate to. As a photographer, I’m very interested in visual arts as they pertain to a culture and hope that maybe I can bring some of that passion into this course.
As for technology, have you ever taken an online class before? Is there anything about online learning that worries you? For me personally, it’s staying motivated and not procrastinating!
Hi Chase,
I remember reading about your interest in photography and thinking that it could have some really interesting applications to the topics in these classes! Despite my own photography abilities being limited to Snapchat, I believe that pictures, like literature, have the ability to comment on settler-colonial structures in Canada. This story of Nadya Kwandibens is a great example of this and might interest you: https://aptnnews.ca/2019/04/26/ojibwe-photographer-produces-positive-images-of-indigenous-people/.
This is my first online course and I too am nervous about certain aspects of it. I am not exceptionally tech-savvy and can sometimes be quite forgetful. I am hoping that the Google Calender that Katrina Smith posted in her Introduction blog helps me to stay on top of due dates. It might help you too!
Thanks for commenting! It would be great to work with you as the course goes on and I look forward to reading more from you.
Works Cited:
Brandson, Ashley. “Ojibwe Photographer Produces Positive Images of Indigenous People.” APTN News, 26 Apr. 2019, https://aptnnews.ca/2019/04/26/ojibwe-photographer-produces-positive-images-of-indigenous-people/.
Hi Eva,
It is so nice reading your blog! I love literature too but this is the first time I have taken a class of Canadian literature. Based on your blog, it seems to me that you have read lots of Canadian fiction. It also seems like you’re have a broad vision of literature and the ways it connects to new forms of writing. I found it really interesting that you also brought up how literature and technology intersect, like in this course! Would you consider media like video games and virtual reality as literary genres themselves?
Hello Pin!
I do not think that I would consider media like video games and virtual reality to be literary genres. I do, however, think they are good tools for studying different literary genres! They can add some interesting aspects to a conversation and may provide further evidence for ideas outlined within literature. I think Canadian literature is a really interesting subject and I hope that you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.
Eva
Hi Eva,
“I know educated Natives” too
Thank you for a great Welcome blog and some excellent dialogue – and links: excellent. A wonderful beginning. I am listening to the Trapline, by the Snotty Nose Rez Kids and loving this! I am laughing and crying at the same time. Had to send the link to my friends … Love the reference to Buffy My generation. Love the art the games the videos the music! What a treat. Thank you.