Aurora borealis lights the winter sky in Yukon. (Photo credit: Travel Yukon).
Today I saw my unborn baby’s heartbeat. A minuscule circle pulsating to some unheard but intimately felt embryonic jazz riff.
I did not, of course, immediately think of literature in Canada, or of literature at all. But as I sit down to write an introduction to myself and this blog, I think it’s a fitting place to begin. Because I find myself wondering (not yet worrying) what my child’s own story will be, what stories I will tell, and how we will tell them.
Over the next three months, as part of a distance education course at UBC (English 470), this blog will chart my and others’ exploration of how stories – collections of symbols, myths, memory – and Literature create, reinforce, and challenge social and political structures in Canada. This will involve a critical assessment of the development of a Canadian literary canon and the role this process played in nation building and colonization.
But we will not only look backwards. There is agency in storytelling, and the stories we tell and listen to chart where we are going as much as where we have come from. The ‘victors’ no longer have sole dominion over our history (though they undoubtedly still monitor it!). And so we will also investigate new strategies for fostering a more equal and fair exchange of stories in Canada.
I am writing from the Yukon, along the banks of the Takhini River. I grew up in Vancouver, and received my BA in political science from UBC in 2006. But the city that seemed so expansive when I was young started to close in on us, and we moved to the land of the midnight sun (and midday dark) in 2011. I am now working toward increasing my teachable subject areas in preparation for teacher’s college.
We live in a one room cabin about 40 km outside Whitehorse. We have no running water, but we have high speed internet. This fact is important. The ubiquity (and as yet, freedom) of information sharing media – blogs, new journalism, self-publishing, etc. – brings new and lost stories to most of the globe. New storytellers are reaching huge numbers, not just to tell stories but also to create stories collaboratively. But social media in particular is also helping to create storytellers (young and old) adept at curating their lives for an increasingly wider audience. I am looking forward to exploring the relationship between observer and observed in the stories that are told, particularly as social and political structures, and media, change.
Since moving to Whitehorse, I have also started writing fiction and non-fiction. In a creative writing class last spring, I experimented with memory in writing a short story about my first concrete memory. The main focus of the story wasn’t this memory, but the tenuous grasp I have of it. I found that it can be difficult to grasp exactly what happened in the distant past, to pin down the details of what someone looked like or how something was said. Everything that occurs in the past is contextualized by every experience since then. A tone can be softened by forgiveness or regret, and hardened by lingering ill-effects. I hope to explore the different approaches to memory, to the so-called concrete in storytelling, and how some are privileged over others.
Works Cited:
Paterson, Erika. “Course Syllabus.” ENGL 470A Canadian Studies: Canadian Literary Genres. Web. 09 Jan. 2014.
Ackerman, Spencer and Paul Lewis. “NSA surveillance challenged in court as criticism grows over US data program.” The Guardian. 11 Jun. 2013. Web. 09 Jan. 2014.
Onstad, Katrina. “Are we raising a generation of self-conscious narcissists?” The Globe and Mail. 19 Oct. 2012. Web. 09 Jan. 2014.
My, my my – first, congratulations on the joy of your embryonic jazz riff. What a pleasure to read your introduction Jamie. I too am fascinated by memory, along with brain functions. I once read a book called The White Gloves which explores memory and brain in the most intriguing way. I am not going to open your links now because I am rushed with posting all the new blogs so everyone can read — but, I will return. I just wanted to stop and let you know I would really like to read your short story experiment. And to say thanks for such a lovely introduction: thoughtful, insightful and touching – it is wonderful to have a creative writer in the class. I will be back.
Hi Jamie,
Congratulations on your baby! I think you have a very captivating literary voice, and am excited to see more of your blog entries. I enjoy writing creatively too, and am also interested in memory, and how it relates to the truth. What is the truth? Is it objectively how the event we remember happened? If so, how can we ever have an objective account of it when all of its witnesses will necessarily have a biased account of it? In this way, I believe that memories, filtered and distorted through a human lens, somehow become entities themselves, perhaps capable of existing on their own, outside of the events they recollect. In the big picture, what is more valuable? The events as they actually happened (if an objective view of them were possible)? Or, the events as we remember them?
Best,
Greta
These are great questions, Greta. And I like the conception of memories as entities separate from their genesis, free to engage with us, to change along with us. From our readings this week, we need to speak of truths (not just truth). Memories might be the best way to conceptualize the definition of stories, because I think it’s easier to see how fluid, subjective and dependent on meaningless currencies of believability (built on other stories – pictures, videos, mementos, etc.) memories are than, say, constitutions or academic historical accounts.
Not to sit on the fence too much, but I would say the question itself (which is more valuable – the event as it ‘actually happened’ or the memory of the event?) is most valuable, because it not only forces us to confront the idea that both have elements of believability and unbelievability, but also helps us to see what is important to the responder. Chamberlain would say that the real value lies in the question because it highlights the importance of the act of faith in the currency we ascribe to our story of ‘what happened’ (If This is Your Land…, 198).
Nice to meet you you, Jamie, and what a beautiful way you’ve described your unborn child’s heartbeat. I remember my first visit to the ultrasound at 10 weeks and being completely blown away by how much our little bean already resembled a miniature human being. It is so nice to have another classmate to share the excitement of expecting a child this semester.
In going over lesson 1.2 this week, I find myself wrestling with the distinctions between story and literature, as I see so much overlapping and cross sectioning between the two, which I guess makes sense, given their symbiotic nature. But I’m not sure if I quite have it down right.
When I think of stories, I think that it would involve a storyteller and a listener who would take in and interpret for themselves the story being told. But I also feel like there’s more to that dynamic, where the listener has the ability to challenge, question, and, if given the opportunity, to engage in a dialogue with the storyteller. With literature, I see it as involving a reader, who would have the ability to interpret, mentally dissect or even contradict with what is written… but with the world wide web, literature is not only read but the ability to be altered, extended, and re-written by the reader who can easily switch between the two roles.
I am curious, as a storyteller yourself and having composed literature, how would you personally go about distinguishing story and literature, do you see the definition evolving in our digital age, and if so, in what way?
I would love to read your perspective on this topic!
Vivian
Congrats as well, Vivian. It all seems like a wonderful dark art, doesn’t it – first the gummy bear shape, then how quickly the spine starts to develop, etc.!
I’ve always liked spinning language to captivate people. There’s something about the energy when you’re at a long hardwood table, trading stories with friends and strangers, some people leaning in to better hear, some people leaning out to take a break and talk to someone else. There’s a pulse. Interjections, asides, references.
I was a bit nervous when I started writing stories, because they felt so final. There was much more control, but less flexibility, and definitely more responsibility on the author (standing alone, with no one to play off). The creative writing classes I took last year were a perfect introduction, because they were workshops, so I could present my text and then we would collectively play with it, question it, and ultimately rewrite it.
So I’m not sure I see the definition of story and literature changing with new media, but the ability of ‘literature’ to mimic story is definitely changing. I can recreate (in a slightly more protracted way, but less so than with traditional publishing) the workshop online, with commenting, with answers that anticipate questions (hyperlinks for important references – or at least the references I think will be important), etc.
Jamie,
First off, congratulations on your baby! You captured the beating heart in a magical way indeed.
Although I have not spent much time in Yukon, I have had the opportunity to compete in Whitehorse twice for skiing, in 2006 and 2007. A beautiful area of Canada it is – and cold! I remember on one competition day it was -45. Certainly a little different than the balmy Vancouver winters I have become accustomed to!
It is very interesting that you tapped into the idea of social media making, constructing, and allowing almost anyone to be a story teller. I guess I have always focused on the simplistic negative facets of social media and the usual rants that go along with it, such as how it is destroying the English language with short forms (LOL, ?4U etc.). You make a true point though, social media allows almost anyone from anywhere to share stories, ideas, knowledge, and pictures within a few seconds of logging onto the world wide web. Even without running water such as yourself!
On the plane back to Vancouver from Toronto, I watched a CBC clip of “Mansbridge One on One” which featured a discussion between CBC’s Peter Mansbridge and acclaimed Canadian author Margaret Atwood. The first topic they jumped into is Atwood’s use of Twitter. Atwood is questioned if Twitter (or social media feeds alike), will ruin literature. Her response is surprising but witty: “it [Twitter] will not ruin literature anymore than telegraphs did”. True? With some thought, I would say so.
Social media allows someone to craft and tell a story of sorts in as little as 140 characters, and allows the world of dialogue and story telling to explode. Hence why I found the online and social media aspects of ENGL 470 so interesting.
I encourage you to take a little to Mansbridge and Atwood here: http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV+Shows/Mansbridge+One+on+One/ID/2406337705/
Best,
Gillian
Thanks for the link Gillian
Thanks Gillian. Was that cross-country skiing? That must have been a difficult race day. We didn’t start skiing until we moved here, and the first few times we went it was -30 or colder. We really didn’t enjoy it, until it warmed up and we realized how much the temperature can affect the glide you get.
Great link/quote. It reminded me of this (http://imgur.com/WkHHpZ1), about the spectre of social media and its consequences for human interaction. And I agree – if we think of literature as a type of story, then literature may change, but it will keep it’s important elements; in tomes or in 140 characters, it will tell a story, it will be strange, and it will derive power from it’s ability to bring more and more people together in ceremonies of belief and disbelief.
Hi Jamie!
To begin with, congratulations on your baby! You must be so excited. I bet being pregnant when you live in such a remote area comes with many extra challenges.
That being said, I think it’s interesting that you mention the importance of your high speed internet. I bet it makes a home that’s physically separated from most people seem like its not remote at all! Technology is so amazing. That we can correspond and are even in the same university class despite being hundreds of kilometers away is something that, until recently, was completely unheard of. I think it’s absolutely wonderful that, as you mentioned, the internet allows for more and more people to share stories. I think it’s also awesome that those stories can work their way to such wide and diverse audiences. The internet provides so many new opportunities for flourishing writers.
I definitely hope to read more!
Shannon
Hi Jamie
Congrats on the little one!
Your intro blog was definitely an interesting read. It’s interesting that you mention social media, and the effect it has had on our perceptions of ourselves and our surroundings. This immediate flow of information, available to most of the world now, is certainly a double-edged sword. At once, it creates the type of freedom you discuss (being able to stay connected to a global network from a remote location), and allows for extreme narcissism and a strange form of self marketing. The article you hyperlinked regarding children and mobile devices had a very interesting quote: “If a child is constantly being photographed and looking at the photos, there’s a collapsing of the distance between experience and memory. The moment and the recorded moment are so close together now that, in its most alarming form, the actual moment doesn’t seem fully experienced.” The prevalence of high speed internet and mobile technology is changing us, perhaps, in more ways than we realize. The effects of its prevalence are certainly diverse, and can be interpreted both as negative and positive. It is certainly nice to see this issue engaged critically.
Thank you for the read, and best of luck in the coming months!
Thanks very much!
I wonder what this immediacy does for content. In my second blog post I compared storytelling in the digital age with pamphleteers One of the important differences is that interaction in the former is so much more immediate, but are we taking enough time to consider our content, our stories? And without bringing in valuations of that content, are we spending enough time thinking about what we want to say? Or does it matter? Are we often just positioning ourselves within a discourse (a meta-story), rather than saying something new?