{"id":224,"date":"2016-06-29T22:53:01","date_gmt":"2016-06-30T05:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/?p=224"},"modified":"2016-07-02T17:12:17","modified_gmt":"2016-07-03T00:12:17","slug":"a-new-framework","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/2016\/06\/29\/a-new-framework\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Framework"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Harry<\/a>
Harry with Margaret Holding who taught him to read and write in English Photo taken in Omak Washington 1922<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Wendy<\/a>
Wendy Wickwire and Harry Robinson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lesson 2.3 Assignment 2.6<\/strong><\/p>\n

4] In the last lesson I ask some of you, \u201cwhat is your first response to Robinson\u2019s story about the white and black twins in context with our course theme of investigating intersections where story and literature meet.\u201d I asked, what do you make of this \u201cstolen piece of paper\u201d? Now that we have contextualized that story with some historical narratives and explored ideas about questions of authenticity and the necessity to \u201cget the story right\u201d \u2013 how have your insights into that story changed?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The first consideration that needs to be made, before answering this question, is determining where Harry Robinson\u2019s story about the white and black twins, from Living by Stories: a Journey of Landscape and Memory<\/em> fits into the literary canon. \u00a0When I first read the stories, I felt they neatly fell into the genre of postcolonial literature. My first reaction was that the story was influenced by colonization. This seemed to be the case, because one of the twins is white, and is sent across the water to become the forefathers of the English inhabitants. Additionally, I felt that the story itself was a parallel to the events that occurred as a result of colonization. When I first read the story, I focused more on how the Europeans used written language and laws to justify their actions both during and after colonization. However, after reading Thomas King\u2019s analysis of First Nation\u2019s literature from his article, \u201cGodzilla vs. Post-Colonial\u201d, I reconsidered my original position (King).<\/p>\n

King refuses to accept the term postcolonial as a description for Native literature, and instead provides several alternatives. Two options that more accurately describe Robinson\u2019s genre, are polemical and interfusional literature. Polemical is \u201cliterature either in a Native language or in English \u2026 that concerns itself with the clash of Native and non-Native cultures or with the championing of Native values over non-Native values\u201d (King 186). Interfusional is \u201cNative literature that is a blending of oral literature and written literature\u201d (King 186).<\/p>\n

Before considering whether Robinson\u2019s work is either polemical or interfusional literature, I want to examine the term, postcolonial literature. According to King, after he breaks down the assumptions that go into postcolonial literature, he concludes it is \u201cliterature produced by Native people sometime after colonization, a literature that arises in large part out of the experience that is colonization (King 184). Brians, in his article \u201cPostcolonial Literature\u201d: Problems with the Term, <\/em>concurs, \u201c[t]aken literally, the term \u201cpostcolonial literature\u2019 would seem to label literature written by people living in countries formerly colonized by other nations\u201d (Brians). \u00a0However, Brians adds to this, and once again concurs with King, when he writes, \u201cthere are many problems with this definition\u201d (Brians). From here, Brians raises several good points. One is that literature written by peoples who have not received independence from the colonizers, should be considered \u201c\u2019postcolonization\u2019 literature\u201d. \u00a0Another important point he raises is that even using the term postcolonial, when referring to literature, is \u201cEurocentric\u201d, because \u201cit singles out the colonial experience as the most important fact about the countries involved\u201d (Brians). \u00a0Click here to read the entire article<\/a> (Brians).<\/p>\n

King\u2019s description of polemical is a sound depiction of Robinson\u2019s story, and provides the proper condition to absorb Robinson\u2019s words. \u00a0Now when I read Robinson\u2019s stories, I look at it from a different point of view. Instead of only seeing the stolen paper as a parallel to the acts committed by the Newcomers, I can also consider the story from the point of view of the First Nations peoples. Taking into consideration Brians comment about Eurocentric, I can move my view to the centre and see the story on an level playing field. \u00a0Instead of privileging \u201cone culture over another\u201d (King 185), I can look at the story from the point of view that \u201cChapter 1 of the story\u201d, is the same chapter of the same story for both First Nations people of Canada as well as Europeans (Asch 36). I can understand that Robinson\u2019s story is a retelling of this first chapter, and it affects both parties. Conversely, I can see that the time of colonization was \u201cchapter 15\u201d for both Newcomer as well as Native (Asch 37). What this means is that both the Europeans and the Natives stories began long before colonization, and the act of colonization was for both a part of their separate and joint histories.<\/p>\n

Schorcht writes in her article, \u201cThe Storied World of Harry: Emerging Dialogues\u201d, that \u201cRobinson incorporates European elements and content into his stories in ways that reflect the spirit and worldview of an Okanagan storyteller\u201d (Schorcht 147). Her discourse supports the position that Robinson\u2019s writing is in fact closer to King\u2019s term of polemical than it is to the term postcolonial. Schorcht writes, \u201cRobinson makes a clear distinction between his own stories, which have an underlying Okanagan context and history, and stories that have European sources\u201d (156). (Click here for the full article<\/a> (Schorcht).)<\/p>\n

King\u2019s description of interfusional literature also works with Robinson\u2019s story. \u00a0This story, as well as others that Robinson tells, bridges oral storytelling with written literature. Robinson\u2019s story is a fusion, because although the story is written in English, it remains in the oral tradition through it\u2019s \u201cpatterns, metaphors, structures as well as the themes and characters\u201d (King 186). Robinson\u2019s voice can be heard in the written words, and King suggests the stories work best when read aloud.<\/p>\n

Regardless of whether or not Robinson\u2019s story falls under the genre of polemical or interfusional, it is clear to me that postcolonial will not do. A new framework is required that will provide a platform for mutual understanding. When reading Robinson’s stories about the twins, the meaning is clearer, and easier to understand when the reader (or listener) hears the words from a point of view that takes both twin’s position into consideration.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Asch, Michael. \u201cCanadian Sovereignty and Universal History.\u201d Storied Communities: Narratives of Contact and Arrival in Constituting Political Community.<\/em> Ed. Rebecca Johnson, and Jeremy Webber Hester Lessard. Vancouver: U of British Columbia P, 2011. 29 \u2013 39. Print.<\/p>\n

Brians, Paul. \u201cPostcolonial Literature\u201d: Problems with the Term<\/a>. <\/em>Washington State University. n.p. 7 Aug 1998 Web. 26 June 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cHarry Robinson with Margaret Holding, who taught him to read and write in English\u201d<\/a>. 9 March 2016. Digital Image of Photo taken in Omak, Washington, 1922. BC Book Look. Web. 26 June 2016.<\/p>\n

King, Thomas. \u201cGodzilla vs. Post-Colonial.\u201d Unhomely States: Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism<\/em>. Peterbough, ON: Broadview, 2004. 183- 190. Handout.<\/p>\n

Robinson, Harry. Living by Stories: a Journey of Landscape and Memory<\/em>. Ed. Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2005. Print.<\/p>\n

Schorcht, Blanca. \u201cThe Storied World of Harry: Emerging Dialogues\u201d<\/a>. BC Studies<\/em>, no 135, (Autumn 2002). 145-162. Web 29 June 2016. \u00a0http:\/\/ojs.library.ubc.ca\/index.php\/bcstudies\/article\/viewFile\/1640\/1685<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWendy Wickwire and Harry Robinson\u201d<\/a>. 9 March 2016. Digital Image of Photo taken in Omak, Washington, 1922. BC Book Look. Web. 26 June 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lesson 2.3 Assignment 2.6 4] In the last lesson I ask some of you, \u201cwhat is your first response to Robinson\u2019s story about the white and black twins in context with our course theme of investigating intersections where story and literature meet.\u201d I asked, what do you make of this \u201cstolen piece of paper\u201d? Now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26220,"featured_media":226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1976],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lesson-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26220"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224\/revisions\/240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/lindapurcell\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}