Hello and welcome to this student blog for ENGL 470A Canadian Studies. My name is Kevin and I am a 3rd year UBC student pursuing a double major in Creative Writing and English Literature. I am a Canadian citizen but am not as interested in Canada as I perhaps should be, demonstrated by the fact that I frequent World News rather than CBC. I will start visiting both.
My current understanding of this course is that it focuses on the relationship between European and Indigenous narratives that are situated in the country of Canada. On a broader scale, it will focus on the effects of stories on cultures and how they are used to craft a concept of community and a concept of home.
Our word “land” is too spare and meagre. We can scarcely use it except with economic overtones unless we happen to be poets. The aboriginal would speak of “earth” and use the word in a richly symbolic way to mean his “shoulder” or his “side.” I have seen an aboriginal embrace the earth he walked on. (W. Stanner qtd. in J. Chamberlin 79)
I originally intended to title this blog “Many Homes, One Land,” but after reading that quote, I made a most likely futile change. As someone who is not as interested in Canada as he perhaps should be, my chief interest in this course is how its specific focus applies to the universal context. I think of the relationship between European and Indigenous narratives in Canada as another instance of the timeless problem: that of having many groups live on Earth that can only comfortably accommodate one. Every instance is different, of course, and it is in the specifics of this one that I hope to find new insights. I am also as a creative writer interested in the techniques that make these stories as compelling as they are, especially those that remain compelling outside of historical and cultural context.
I am not an active social media poster but do have experience blogging with the Arts One course that I took in my first year. I have also taken quite a few distance courses and have done research on online communication, so I look forward to experiencing this course’s unique structure.
Works Cited
CBC/Radio-Canada. CBC News. CBC/RC, 15 May 2015. Web. 15 May 2015.
Chamberlin, J. Edward. If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories? Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2004. Print.
Paterson, Erika. ENGL 470A Canadian Studies. U of British Columbia, 11 May 2015. Web. 15 May 2015.
Sun, Kevin. kcsaob. WordPress, 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 15 May 2015.
The Real Deal. Globe. TRD, 26 Dec. 2012. Web. 15 May 2015.
WN Network. World News. WNN, 15 May 2015. Web. 15 May 2015.
Hi Kevin,
I think your title is just fine! I am intrigued by your statement that there exists a timeless problem of ” having many groups live on Earth that can only comfortably accommodate one”. It can certainly feel this way in light of racial and religious tensions all around the world, but Canada and many other western countries seem to be tolerant in their policies regarding religious freedoms and racial equality, and by most accounts relative to other countries, doing quite well in these areas. I also think that people can identify with more than one group; for instance, I see myself as a Canadian, an ethnic Chinese, a male person, a musician, and a student, but I would never deem people who fall outside of these categorizations as threats to my interests or survival. At the heart of Canada’s ongoing experiment with multiculturalism is the belief that even if we look different, speak different languages, and hardly resemble one united group in anybody’s eyes, we all have good intentions for our individual and collective prosperity.
Hello Timothy. Your comment raises to me the question of what defines a group when there appears to be so many that intersect with each other. For now, my answer is that a group (perhaps “culture” would be a better term) is an organization that exists in conflict with another group. It is a self-serving answer but a useful one, at least in the context of my post. I hope to have a better definition by the end of this semester.
I was consciously trying not to imply with the statement you quoted that these many cultures are necessarily hostile to one another. In many cases (i.e. every war that has ever been fought), they are. In many others, they coexist, learning from each other and working together to further their own interests. The problem is that so long as these cultures remain cultures rather than a culture, conflicts of interest are inevitable. These conflicts may not be major, may not even be worth mentioning, but they will accumulate. They will create friction and cause “discomfort”. It is thus my belief that no culture can be comfortably accommodated indefinitely on Earth that it has to share; whether that discomfort leads to war is up to the cultures themselves.
🙂
Hello Kevin, thank you for a great introduction – and welcome to our course of studies. I am happy to see your blog has stimulated a response from Timothy, and an interesting point to consider: I am looking forward to working together this summer. Enjoy – Erika
Hello Professor Paterson. Thank you for the comment. I look forward to working together as well.
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for your first post! You bring up very interesting questions, in your post and conversation with Timothy. I really appreciate your open discussion of conflict – a culture or group as an organization in conflict with another, and the existence of multiple groups inevitably causing friction and discomfort. In this class the conflict we are focused on is that between Indigenous peoples in Canada and settlers of Canada. The biggest step for people like me is to acknowledge this conflict, admit that there is conflict. Canada’s history and present reality is not one of settlers living harmoniously with Aboriginal peoples, but many of us are used to a more harmonious version of society in our stories. Thank you for encouraging these ideas of conflict, friction, and discomfort. I look forward to reading more!
Kaitie
Hello Kaitie and thank you for the comment. I think it’s important to acknowledge conflict where conflict exists; what I’m interested in is what this conflict causes. The consequences of cultures maneuvering against each other can be negative and positive, and just as I think it’s important to acknowledge the negative consequences, I think it’s equally important to acknowledge the positive ones, as well as the ones that are neither negative nor positive. I look forward to examining those consequences in this course.