{"id":85,"date":"2016-10-07T23:56:29","date_gmt":"2016-10-08T06:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jennytlu\/?p=85"},"modified":"2016-11-05T11:39:21","modified_gmt":"2016-11-05T18:39:21","slug":"2-3-5-a-stolen-piece-of-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jennytlu\/2016\/10\/07\/2-3-5-a-stolen-piece-of-paper\/","title":{"rendered":"2.3 #5: A Stolen Piece of Paper \/ Symbols and Metaphors"},"content":{"rendered":"

“If Europeans were not from the land of the dead, or the sky, alternative explanations which were consistent with indigenous cosmologies quickly developed\u201d (\u201cFirst Contact,\u201d\u00a0<\/i>43). Robinson gives us one of those alternative explanations in his stories about how Coyote\u2019s twin brother stole the \u201cwritten document\u201d and when he denied stealing the paper, he was \u201cbanished to a distant land across a large body of water\u201d (9). We are going to return to this story, but for now \u2013 what is your first<\/i> response to this story? In context with our course theme of investigating intersections where story and literature meet, what do you make of this stolen piece of paper? This is an open-ended question and you should feel free to explore your first thoughts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

What fascinated me about the story of Coyote and the Paper was how it was introduced in different magnitudes of Robinson telling many versions and twists of other stories as well. Wickwire talked about how Robinson \u201cwanted to show the cultural importance of maintaining a full range of stories\u201d (29). And while there are storytellers, there are those who did not represent their stories well because they filtered a certain theme. Robinson included stories involving contemporary political issues as well, stories that showed that \u201cHarry\u2019s forebears were not strictly \u2018mythtellers\u2019 locked in their prehistorical past\u201d (25). The story places the ancestor of the colonizers as the trickster who steals the paper, and of Coyote as the obedient twin. This paper would represent how the \u2018evil\u2019 twin\u2019s descendants, \u201ctrue to their original character\u201d (10), would take advantage of their God-given blessing and law in colonizing and claiming the land as theirs. \u00a0<\/span>
\n\"bbaaaaa\"<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd its message would be clear to all: that whites were a banished people who colonized this country through fraudulence associated with an assigned form of power and knowledge who had been literally alienated from its original inhabitants\u201d (30). While I can understand the purpose of this story in depicting a different narrative for decolonizing the settlers, the lacking characterization in both ancestors of these opposing races were rather concerning. Black, versus white, good versus evil. There is no gray area, nor this contact zone that represents a place for hope, nor any misunderstood communication. It\u2019s clear that one side was mistreated. Wouldn\u2019t portraying this be a misrepresentation that is equally incorrect as to how settlers assumed this Adam and Eve aspect of the native people? If we were able to forget our own cultural preconceptions before understanding another culture, how much of their stories should we believe, and yet still be suspicious of<\/a>? Is it a matter of what the story tells, or what the story has also assumed? <\/span><\/p>\n

From this obvious depiction of two black and white characters, how are we able to move beyond these set perspectives of each other? I find it ironic that it is assumed our natures must oppose one another, and that even the descendants can be seen as failing to set things right, even in the power of law. This depiction makes this assumption about innate nature, and such assumptions can imply irreversible issues. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m particularly curious about how art serves as this outlet in expressing and paving a movement for certain paths, and how there may also be drawbacks when it comes to a mutual understanding, a reconciliation of sorts. While art can provoke questions and start movements, \u201cwhen metaphor invades decolonization, it kills the very possibility of decolonization; it recenters whiteness, it resettles theory, it extends innocence to the settler, it entertains a settler future\u201d (Tuck, 3). While Robinson\u2019s metaphor does not entertain any certain future, are there dangers to character implications<\/a>, and does this do more hurting than helping the situation at hand? Tuck claims that an \u201ceasy adoption of decolonization as a metaphor…is a premature attempt at reconciliation\u201d (9). I wonder how much walking on eggshells needs to be properly done to establish similar goals and an equal perspective, without being misleading of details, assumptions, or biases. I think I can understand how metaphors themselves cannot serve as part of the bigger picture, but can only point to specific points. For instance, Robinson\u2019s story overall, points to the establishment of the colonizers as unfair. <\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, is it our own nature that manipulates and corrupts law to our own purposes? If there was no existence of the written document or no symbol of law, would both sides have been able to live peacefully, and come to a collective conclusion about how to live together? Hypothetical questions, but I think they are worth wondering about especially when it comes to this intersection of myth and historical storytelling, of reality and imagination intertwined.<\/span><\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/span><\/p>\n

Robinson, Harry. Living by Stories: a Journey of Landscape and Memory<\/em>. Compiled and edited by Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver, Talon Books, 2005. <\/span><\/p>\n

Taylor, Steve. \u201cThe Real Meaning of ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’.\u201d <\/span>Psychology Today<\/span><\/i>, 26 Aug. 2013, <\/span>https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/blog\/out-the-darkness\/201308\/the-real-meaning-good-and-evil<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

TEDx Talks<\/span>. \u201cBe suspicious of stories | Tyler Cowen | TEDxMidAtlantic.\u201d <\/span>YouTube<\/span><\/i>, presentation by Cowen Tyler, 8 Nov. 2016, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RoEEDKwzNBw.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tuck, Eve. Yang, K. \u201cDecolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society.\u201d <\/span>Decolonization is not a metaphor,<\/span><\/i> Vol. 1, 1 Nov. 2016, 40, <\/span>Decolonization<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>http:\/\/decolonization.org\/index.php\/des\/article\/view\/18630\/15554.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBlack and White Game Match Chess.\u201d <\/span>PEXELS<\/span><\/i>, 16 Feb. 2016, <\/span>https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/black-and-white-game-match-chess-2902\/<\/span> . <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“If Europeans were not from the land of the dead, or the sky, alternative explanations which were consistent with indigenous cosmologies quickly developed\u201d (\u201cFirst Contact,\u201d\u00a043). Robinson gives us one of those alternative explanations in his stories about how Coyote\u2019s twin brother stole the \u201cwritten document\u201d and when he denied stealing the paper, he was \u201cbanished […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29566,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[305208],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unit-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jennytlu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jennytlu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jennytlu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jennytlu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29566"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jennytlu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jennytlu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jennytlu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions\/114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jennytlu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jennytlu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/jennytlu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}