Prompt: For this week our task was to take the story about how evil comes into the world, written by Leslie Silko and retold by King in his book “The Truth About Stories” and to make the story our own.

Ben Okri- “We live by stories, we also live in them. We are living the stories planted in us early or along the way, we are also living the stories we planted-knowingly or unknowingly- in ourselves (…) If we change the stories we live by, quiet possibly we change our lives.” (King 153)

My version: Once upon a time, a little boy went to his first day of school. He arrived in the brightly colored kindergarten classroom, holding his mom’s milky-white hand. He excitedly glanced around the room and realized that the other children were staring at him with questioning looks. He thought maybe it was because he was so tall for his age. After calendar time, recess rolled around. With his Minecraft lunchbox in his hand, he ventured out into the sun. Usually he would want to go play basketball, but eager to make new friends he spotted a group of kids sitting in a circle on the field near the blacktop. Their eyes sparkled with laughter, as they joked around. He walked up, anticipation filling him with every step. His voice faltered as he asked what they were doing. In unison they whispered, “truth or dare” scared that a teacher might hear. Asking if he could join, they agreed, and he sat down in the huddle of small children.

From a boy eating an ant to a girl revealing her crush, there was constant entertainment and glee. Finally, it was his turn to go. His voice faltered as he picked truth. All eyes were on him as he awaited the question.   The ant eating boy was given the task at hand and thought it over for a second, whispering to his friends for confirmation. He hesitated and finally asked, “why are you different than your mom? Are you adopted?” The question crashed against him like a glass breaking. He clamped his hand against his ears and shouted, “It doesn’t sound so good, take the story back, take the story back”.

With tears in his eyes, he ran towards the bathroom trying to escape his past, present, and future, somehow hoping to seek shelter in isolation against the  story. He walked into the cold bleak bathroom, facing the stained mirror. He wiped away his tears too afraid to look at himself for what he really was. Eventually curiosity took over, and he was forced to look up. Chocolate brown skin filled his view, and he felt denial slowly chipping away. For confirmation he tapped on the mirror to check that the image was authentic, not just a picture in a frame. He gazed for a second, and with new found clarity, he knew a new chapter had been turned. For once a story is told, it cannot be called back. Once told, it is loose in the world. He started to walk back to his classroom finding comfort in his own skin.

Commentary: I work in a middle school  and my story is based on  stories that I have heard about students experiences with adoption. They reminded me that not all stories are evil or harmful, rather they guarantee that one is living a authentic life as stories hint at human imperfections. I told the story to both of my sisters, as one works in an elementary school and the other attends a middle school. I found that I adapted the story to make it more relevant by using familiar settings and popular fads.

The common thread of denial plays a part in the stories we tell ourselves. My story touches on personal denial, but I find it interesting to look at how groups of people can participate in perpetuating a specific story.  The documentary film “Little White Lie” depicts filmmaker Lacey Schwartz who grew up in a white Jewish family in New York, but had darker skin than her parents and siblings. Her family said that she inherited her dark skin from her Sicilian grandfather. The secret was described as a  “600 pound gorilla in the room” and at age 18 her mom told her that she was a result of an affair with an African American man. The film illustrates that stories  can create a duality of identity in what we tell ourselves and how others see us. The danger of course, is that it can affect the past, present, and future. Luckily, Lacey embraced her identity. However, it begs the question of what role keeping family secrets play in our lives, for the better or the worse?

Lacey Schwartz

Works Cited:

Belton, Danielle. “3 Black Adoptees on Racial Identity After Growing Up in White Homes.” The Root . N.p., 27 Jan. 2015. Web. 29 May 2015.

King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories:A Native Narrative. Toronto: House of Anasi, 2003. Print.

Lacey Schwart. Flickr. Web. 29 May 2015. <www.flickr.com>.

Little White Lie Official Trailer. Narr. Lacey Schwartz. Film Fesitvals and Indie Films, 2014. Web. 28 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxHLpgYwcVY>.

Mystical Mirror. 2014. Web. 29 May 2015. <www.pixabay.com>.

Question 1:

The distinction between oral and written culture has been described by Foley as the “Great Divide”, symbolizing a competition between the eye and the ear. (MacNeil).  It is a mistaken ethnocentric  notion that has been dangerously passed down through generations. In MacNeil’s article on “orality” she explores how this binary model is perpetuated by academics such as Walter J. Ong who see that writing is the “key to the evolutionary process,” because it assists in the development of science, history and philosophy. Comparatively, orality is seen as being  “imprisoned in the present” and is the mark of a “tribal man” . (MacNeil).

The categorization of people into barbaric and civilized referred to by Chamberlin as “them” and “us” is a social construct that has played a major role in Canada’s colonizing history. Differences in culture were commonly equated with opposition, and the solution that was used was assimilation. Residential schools which Chamberlin describes as a form of “social engineering” removed children from their cultural environment (family) and assimilated them into European culture. They were taught to read/write in English and were prohibited from practicing their language and culture. The loss of orality meant that the children had no agency in the stories of their culture, as MacNeil states that the oral tradition is a useful method “of  accessing collective memory”.They instead learnt the stories of the settlers. Thus, as a result, significant cultural loss occurred.

Students of the Fort Albany Residential School

Both MacNeil and Chamberlin (“If this is you land where are you stories?”) agree that such a sharp distinction between oral and written cultures does not exist. Rather, the two traditions interweave and inform each other with a shared common purpose of conveying cultural knowledge through communication. Chamberlin reinforces the similarities by stating that “so called oral culture are rich in forms of writing ( blankets, masks, hats)” and that written cultures have institutions such as schools that have “strictly defined and highly formalized oral traditions” (20). Furthermore, MacNeil explains that with the development of technology the barriers between the two traditions becomes blurred. The fusion of the eye and the ear is apparent in social media apps such as Periscope (twitters live streaming app).  This new app challenges Ong’s conceptions of literacy being “durable and permanent” as users can elect to delete their videos and the chat messages immediately after the stream has ended. (MacNeil). Periscope also conveys the centrality of orality in communicating stories. The dialogue between the user and the listener continually shifts and gives the listener a greater power in being able to change the story (Paterson).

Periscope App

Shuswap Elder Mary Thomas has stated that “children are the future”. It certainly appears that way when we look at the role teens and kids play in social media. The power of listeners to change and create stories  allows for greater agency in contributing to culture.  It appears that Chamberlin’s sentiment about how we need re-imagine “them” and “us” is currently happening online. The awful assimilation that occurred in residential schools due to perceived differences of tradition, is now shifting. The global nature of the web encourages communication through the crossing of cultural boundaries. The mutual sharing  of the same platforms (whether it be periscope, twitter, Facebook)  allows young people to understand that different cultures view the world in unique ways, which doesn’t make them any less authentic or important. This understanding speaks to how Chamberlin emphasizes the need to cultivate culture as it is what makes us human.  He describes that the refusal to do this is like “ a foolish choice between false alternatives. It is a choice between being isolated or being overwhelmed, between being marooned on an island or drowning in the sea” (24) .

Works Cited:

Chamberlin, J. Edward. If this is your land, where are your stories?:Finding Common Ground. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2003. Print.

Fontaine, Lorena S. “Canadian Residential Schools: The Legacy of Cultural Harm.” Indigenous Law Bulletin 17.4 (2002). Web. 21 May 2015.

MacNeil, Courtney. “Orality.” The Chicago School of Media Theory . U.Chicago, 2007. Web. 20 May 2015.

Paterson, Erika. English 470A: Canadian Studies. University of British Columbia, 2015. Web. 21 May 2015

Periscope, Twitter’s live-streaming app,. Narr. Sam Sheffer. The Verge , 2015. Web. 21 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_0MynsbpOo>.

Periscope. Web. 21 May 2015. <www.softandapps.info>.

Students of Fort Albany Residential School. Wikipedia . Web. 21 May 2015.http://upload.wikimedia/commons/StudentsofFortAlbanyResidentialSchoolinclass.JPG

My name is Sarah, and  I am entering my fifth year as  a Sociology Major. For the last year I have been lucky enough to escape from the Vancouver rain by living in sunny Orange County, California. I take full advantage of the beautiful weather by running, hiking, and exploring local beaches where I frequently see dolphins! When I am not outside I work at elementary and middle  schools, where I am constantly teased for  being Canadian and saying “washroom” and “pencil crayons”.

Laguna Beach. February 2015.

My dad and I on a hike overlooking the beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

English 470A Canadian Studies also referred to by Dr. Erika Paterson as Oh Canada….Our Home and Native Land? is a Canadian literature course in which we will examine the relationship between Indigenous and European traditions of literature and orature.  More specifically, we will be analyzing these stories through a historical lens that challenges colonial narratives and representations. Through this process we will have a better understanding of the connection between nation building, and the development of a Canadian literary canon. Importantly, this course will also work to question whose stories we choose to listen to and whose do we choose not to hear or ignore. The power of stories and national identity has a strong connection to my country of birth, South Africa.

South African Flag

I was born in the busy port city of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal South Africa and lived there until  I moved to West Vancouver at the age of 9. (KwaZulu-Natal means “Place of the Zulu”).  Many people are unaware that South Africa is a culturally and linguistically diverse nation with 11 official languages, due to the singleness of its literary system where Afrikaaner and English authors are most celebrated.  During apartheid ( meaning “seperateness” or “segregation” in Afrikaans) racial discrimination was evident with a ban or exile on black writers.  The writers who received international recognition during apartheid were all white. South African nationalism in the 90’s worked to promote one voice, thus  with the end of apartheid and the emergence of previous unheard voices  it raised questions of what it meant to be South African. Currently, South Africa’s literary identity is shifting thanks to authors such as Niq Mhlongo Mhlongo, who writes about the culture of Soweto states  that  “there are more black novelists today than there ever were in the history of South Africa”.

Seeing the transition that the South African literature community has undergone in these past years, has made me interested to learn more about the current state of Canadian literature. I also hope to read contemporary Indigenous pieces of work, and to learn different storytelling techniques that are unique to my knowledge. Lastly, I am looking forward to reading the blogs of other students to gain new perspectives of what Canadian identity means. Hope everyone has a great summer!

Works Cited:

Brownell, Frederick. Flag of South Africa. 1994. Wikipedia . Web. 13 May 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Africa>.

Donadio, Rachel. “Post-Apartheid Fiction .” The New York Times . N.p., 3 Dec. 2006. Web. 13 May 2015. Path: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/magazine/03novelists.html.

“History of Durban .” Mother Earth Travel . N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2015. <http://motherearthtravel.com/south_africa/durban/history.html>.

Paterson, Erika. English 470A: Canadian Studies. University of British Columbia, 2015. Web. 13 May 2015

SA’s story in 12 languages . LeadSouthAfrica, 2014. Web. 13 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thB63W7igMU>.