As a British Columbian totem poles like these are a common sight. They’re pretty to look at, but how many of us know the actual stories behind them?
Heya, I’m Charmaine, and I’m about to embark on a storytelling tour of Canadian literature with ENGL470. (Join me on the ride and pitch a thought in the comment section once in a while?) I major in English Literature and Creative Writing, so reading stories (and writing ’em) constitute a large chunk of my life. I just came back from a year of doing co-op, so I’m super-excited to dip back into academia!
To be honest, when I think of “Canadian literature,” the first things that come to mind are the rather boring pieces I read in high school: like that Alice Munro story (“Boys and Girls,” I think) about the kids in the prairies skinning foxes and riding horses. The stories about “days of yore.” When my books arrived for 470, however, the abundance of (contemporary!) Native Canadian literature excited me. I think this (sub)genre is often ignored (in preference to authors like Atwood and Munro).
I think it’s difficult to define what is Canadian literature because it’s difficult to define who or what is “Canadian” to begin with. Stereotypes like maple syrup and hockey don’t apply to many of us, especially to First Nations and children of immigrants like myself (I’m a second-generation Canadian of East Asian descent).
So I think it’s important to read widely when it comes to studying Canadian literature. It’s fair to read your share of Atwood and Munro, but we should also be aware of the Thomas Kings and the Joy Ogawas.
One thing I’m optimistic about this course is learning a more authentic, honest, portrayal of Aboriginal culture and experience through Aboriginal fiction written by Aboriginals. As a non-Aboriginal, the majority of discourse I hear about the First Nations experience is through media and non-Aboriginals, and I hesitate to attach much truth to those accounts. Most Canadians know that our First Nations folks face an array of challenges, but few of us know exactly what, how, or why these challenges happen.
Because of our ignorance, we tend to attach blame. Oh, it’s the Indian Act‘s fault. No, it’s the chiefs that are being unaccountable. (Who hasn’t heard of these claims?) We lump people’s experiences together and we also simplify and superficial-ize them. Which isn’t fair.
I don’t think there’s a surefire way to truly understand a person, or a group’s, experience when you weren’t there. But I think the closest way one can attempt to understand is through first-hand telling of stories, which is what I’m excited about for this class.
What do you think about when you think about Canadian literature?
Works Cited:
Timms, Philip. Alert Bay Totems. 1900s. Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver. Wikimedia Commons. Web. 12 May 2015. (This is a Public Domain image via Wikimedia Commons)
Hey Charmaine,
I too was thrilled when I got the booklist for this class and saw such a break from what we would consider the ‘norm’ of Canadian literature. I definitely remember reading some similar Canadian short stories in High School, and I’m excited that we’re going to be exploring our national literature from an indigenous perspective!
It’s funny how Canadian literature compares to other aspects of media – I do find it true that we associate the ideas of this national literary statues to people like Atwood, Ondaatje and Munro; yet, when it comes to TV and theatre there seems to be a greater representation of our multicultural heritage into the canon. TV more recently with shows like Little Mosque on the Prairie, Arctic Air and contemporary Canadian theatre hosts a wealth of backgrounds in their successes, eg. Ali & Ali and the aXes of Evil, Kim’s Convenience, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe or the Rez Sisters ~ I should mention something about Canadian films here but I am woefully ignorant on that subject. 🙁
It’s exciting to take a class like this that will be deconstructing the Western canon!
Stoked to be working with you,
Jamie.
Absolutely! Have you also observed that the thought of “Canadian literature” elicits eye rolling? I’m not clear on the exact stats, but I’m fairly certain most Canadians would rather watch American entertainment than Canadian entertainment. I wonder if this is because Canadian media struggles too much to be “representative” and often portrays people and lives “mainstream” Canadians don’t quite relate to (such as Muslim Canadians living in the prairies, or settlers living in the prairies…). Whereas the melting pot of American culture consistently portrays the dominant American mainstream culture everyone knows and loves.
Which is quite unfortunate. Canada is made up of so many different people with different stories; surely some of them might be a tad interesting? I think it’s important to read these stories no matter how different we may find the people in them. I really believe us urban British Columbians have more in common with, say, residents of reserves in northern Ontario than the media leads us to believe.
:0
🙂
HI Charmaine, thanks for a great introduction – I think you are really going to benefit form this course of studies – BUT, Charmaine, I am concerned that you have linked last years 470 website to your blog? I am not sure where you got this link – but it can really confuse people. So, please change to the correct url for our course:
https://blogs.ubc.ca/courseblogsis_ubc_engl_470a_99c_2014wc_44216-sis_ubc_engl_470a_99c_2014wc_44216_2517104_1/welcome/
I sent you a message as well – thanks
Duly noted! It should be fixed now; thanks!
– Char
Hello Charmaine!
I agree that the dialogue surrounding First Nations peoples in Canada is complicated, it seems to be very convoluted and messy and tied up in stereotypes and opinions most of the time. When I first came to Canada I was surprised by how hot the debate surrounding First Nations’ rights was, in America it seems like most of the time indigenous voices are drowned out by an unfortunate deluge of continual hate crimes and violent actions of prejudice and ignorance.
I also really like the idea of understanding a people and a situation through their cultural narrative and artistic expression. I think that other than food, art is one of the greatest unifying forces of mankind!
That’s really cool you’re in creative writing, do you feel like your concentration in that area will provide you with a unique understanding/view of indigenous literature?
I thought I would add that this beauty was my first introduction to Canadian literature. It really freaked first-grader-Gretta out:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174348
Creepy poem! I think I vaguely remember it from childhood as well…
I’m interested to see what the culture is in America surrounding First Nations. I often wonder which one of us does a fairer job in respecting indigenous rights…though I sense that’s an enormous, subjective, and controversial conversation there…
Hm, as a creative writing major I often ask myself what kind of stories appeal both to me as the storyteller and my readers. Time and again, the stories in our media that are successful tend to be relatable stories. Friends, for example, is so popular because most watchers of television sitcoms are 20-something, middle-class, white urban adults. However, when the media crafts its stories this way—based on how well something “sells”—we tend to push out the minority narratives in favour of the mainstream narrative (so the perspective of 20-something/middle-class/working/white/urban adults).
I think as a person who writes I try to find the middle ground. I want to tell a story, a unique story, something that truly reflects me and not the mainstream…without abandoning the mainstream! Because as a writer you genuinely want people to understand, to be interested, but of course you want to be original and contribute something new 🙂
Which is why I’m excited to read Native Canadian literature. The stories are probably different from what I’m used to, but presented in a format (literature) that I am used to. Wow, that was a long response…but I love talking about storytelling! Looking forward to reading with you, Gretta!
– Char
Duuuuudes – Cremation of Sam McGee was responsible for some serious nightmares in my childhood. My mom gave me a picture book of that poem when I was about 6 or 7 and I think my Grandpa read it too me a little too often…..
Looking at it 20 years later though… great poem! 😉
🙂
Hello!
I just wanted to say that I love your closing paragraph and the idea that stories and storytelling are a way of understanding people. That is one of the main reasons I decided to major in English, specifically after reading the Odyssey in ArtsOne.
When we studied the Odyssey the first thing our professor did was highlight the difference between an oral tradition and a written tradition and how, with an oral tradition, these stories adapted and changed and flowed with the situations they were recited. We were also made to understand that as soon as these stories were written down it changed them somehow, suddenly the ideas behind the stories had to be analyzed and people kind of had to learn to adapt them themselves while the narratives remained the same.
I think the idea that an oral tradition of storytelling helps us understand people is so intriguing because growing up I always thought that written literature helped us understand people and the world but now I am not as certain as I was before.
Cheers!
Saarah
🙂
Hi Charmaine!
Most of the books on my reading list were written somewhere far away (Germany features prominently, but also the UK and of course the US), but of the Canadian books, the ones that most affected me were by writers of aboriginal, or mixed aboriginal, heritage: Thomas King’s Green Grass Running Water (Alberta), Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach (B.C.), Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road (Ontario).
Sometimes I’m struck by the contrast: these stories are full of a cutting sense of loss and alienation, while I get the feeling – perhaps from myself – that mainstream Canadian culture is permeated much more by a sense of numbness, absurdity, anesthesia. These are two worlds with two very different kinds of darkness, one the shadow of oppression and the other of a tedious kind of prosperity.
I don’t think I could point to a literary work that represents the latter – maybe someone could recommend one? – but to me it seems conspicuous by absence, by silence. Storytelling has great power to put the subconscious on display, even when there’s nothing to display.
Anyway, I look forward to reading more from you! 🙂 Cheers.
Very interesting thoughts, Mattias! Yes, I can definitely see where you’re coming from…although the first and only Canadian writer that makes an impression on my mind at this moment is Douglas Coupland… Regardless, “shadow of oppression” and “tedious kind of prosperity” are things I recognize.
I think the number one thing that makes an impression on me with prose is the tone. The tone, well, it sets the tone for everything. I don’t know if you’ve read Murakami (Japanese writer), but he’s a surrealist writer whose mundane tone and preoccupation with the strange yet unimportant seems to capture some aspect of your “tedious kind of prosperity” idea.
I have read Murakami! I have not read Douglas Coupland, although I checked him out as you mentioned him and he seems interesting. Mixed feelings about Murakami (I’ve only read Kafka on the Shore and Firefly), but I do think he would be a good example, if from a quite different cultural tradition.
Cheers!
🙂
Hi Charmaine! Nice to see a fellow Uhillian in this class 😛
I love your comment on the ambiguity of Canadian literature as a genre…and how hard it is to exactly define who or what a “Canadian” is. I think the fact that we have these stereotypes draws attention to whose stories hold superiority in Canadian society. What does it say about our attitudes and policies as a nation in our choices to prioritize the Alice Munros over the Thomas Kings. I think the fact that so many of the students in this class, including me, come from a lack of understanding and exposure to true Aboriginal Literature is very telling of the issues that we will tackle in this class. I think part of what will be so rewarding about this class is the ability for all of us to be honest about our lack of knowledge…so that we can move forward in beginning to learn and change our perceptions.
I also agree about the reading list, I’m only 30 pages into Chamberlain’s “If This Is Your Land…” and I feel refreshed already by his approach to understanding post colonial culture.
Hey Freda! Yay, UHill reunion 🙂
I totally agree with you on the honesty part. I think the bigger picture our discussion belongs to is the problem of pushing minority authors and their voices in the corners of media. We delegate these stories as “foreign” and “alternative”—hence, no one thinks twice about exploring them. I think the books on the bestseller lists are there for more reasons than being well-written: they contribute to the mainstream narrative, which is usually white, middle-class, and North American.
Unfortunately, I doubt any of us are in the position to influence the publication market, but perhaps after this class we would be more inclined to venture into this “alternative” section of the bookstore.
🙂