1] In his article, “Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial,” King discusses Robinson’s collection of stories. King explains that while the stories are written in English, “the patterns, metaphors, structures as well as the themes and characters come primarily from oral literature.” More than this, Robinson, he says “develops what we might want to call an oral syntax that defeats reader’s efforts to read the stories silently to themselves, a syntax that encourages readers to read aloud” and in so doing, “recreating at once the storyteller and the performance” (186). Read “Coyote Makes a Deal with King of England”, in Living by Stories. Read it silently, read it out loud, read it to a friend, and have a friend read it to you. See if you can discover how this oral syntax works to shape meaning for the story by shaping your reading and listening of the story. Write a blog about this reading/listening experience that provides references to the story.

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From the beginning of Robinson’s story the syntactic structuring caused my first reaction to be to read it aloud. The word choice, and the flow of the sentences made it feel more like a conversation or personal story than a textual source.

My first read through was done silently. It was a definite struggle because the story wasn’t linear, it was conversational, and Harry Robinson pauses now and again to ask questions: “do you know what the angel was? Do you know?” (Robinson 66). Points were returned to and repeated because of its oral nature, and the trouble involved with recalling what one has already said and remaining true to the story. Certain aspects and details were left out that I expect in text-based stories: characterizations, surroundings, internal thoughts/monologues. The pace was also incredibly quick at some points, it felt like the narration was excited, as if the words were more of a trail than the sight to behold. There were also moments for interpretation within the book, at one point Harry says “So she finish ’em-a book, good & thick. Thicker than this & bigger” (Robinson 78). There were points where Harry loses track of his train of thought “That’s all the name I know. I don’t know his second name. Or, his first name. Maybe his first name, maybe TOH-mah, maybe that was his second name”. This train of thought was difficult to follow silently because it’s a pattern of speech, it’s a confusing process to make sense of silently. The personal references to age, and events “I seen him in Penticton, I seen him twice” generally challenge story perspectives because the narrator is a relatable person, and consistently disconnects from the tenses of the original story. The perspective also alternated from Harry Robinson’s point of view and thoughts on what things occurred and what he saw, to a third-party witnessing the events of Coyote, TOH-ma, the white man, and the king.

My second read through was done out loud. The story was more fluent because it uses informal spoken language. The imagery and metaphors were also much clearer, and my friend and I could picture the events that were unfolding. Speaking this story brought out deeper meaning within the conversations, and context of the characters. I am sure it was my perspective coloring the voices and intention of the character’s words, for instance “Well, what did my children do for your children?” (Robinson 70), almost felt hostile. This felt like the King of England was a child trying to hide his guilt, in this case the guilt was over colonial settlers. In my telling, Coyote was a reasonable, peaceful person who was seeking sympathy and cooperation with the King of England. It did actually feel like I was creating a performance with the story, because no two sentences sounded the same. Meaning and emotion were altered with each sentence because of the words used.

The third reading was done by my friend, and the experience as a listener was similar. The text came alive, and the performance aspects were more visible in seeing someone else recreate the tale. The fluidity was still greater than the silent reading, although I have to admit we both stumbled about Harry Robinson’s grammar and syntax.

In conclusion the oral syntax played a large role in my understanding of the story.

*About “Black & White”/The Indian Act*

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Works cited:

“Indian Act (R.S.C., 1985, C. I-5).” Legislative Services Branch. Web. 20 June 2015.

Joseph, Bob. “21 Things You May Not Have Known About The Indian Act.” Working Effectively With Aboriginal Peoples. 2 June 2015. Web. 20 June 2015.

Robinson, Harry. “Coyote Makes a Deal With the King of England.” Living By Stories: A Journey of Landscape and Memory. Ed. Wendy Wickwire. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2005. 288. Print.

Robinson, Martin. “Let’s Stop Feeling Guilty about the Empire Because the World Has Moved On, Says Hague.” Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 31 Aug. 2012. Web. 20 June 2015.