Hello everyone,
I’m Sashini Weerasundara, a fourth year psychology student who is excited to take this course and delve into the English world, through the context of Canadian literature. Although I am not as familiar with Canadian literature, as I grew up in the United States (Colorado), I am eager to learn. Hopefully through discussions and conversational interactions with you guys (my classmates) I hope to invoke and inspire new thoughts, ideas, and interpretations of texts, I never would have thought before. I suppose that is the best way to learn, from each other! I know that with our different backgrounds, we can bring in diverse ideas and new ways of thinking. I hope to learn more about Canadian literature, as I have lived here for four years now, and consider Canada my home. Oh Canada!
What motivated me to take this course, is my background. I am Sri Lankan, and our country has faced British colonization, and to this day, reel in the repercussions of their involvement: dismantling of our culture, changing the official language and the way we communicate, (at one point in history) as well as some practices, stories and our way of life being forgotten. Yet, many people in Sri Lanka are unaware of the damage caused by colonization, and are brainwashed into believing it was for the greater good. As a Canadian citizen, I hope to understand the indigenous background in Canada, to really know the place I live historically through the context of literature and story telling. Often times, we learn things through a colonial perspective, and through this course, I am hoping to learn the impact indigenous culture has in modern society, and understand Canada, through the eyes and ears of the Indigenous people of Canada.
As I was browsing the course syllabus, what caught my attention was learning about the oral traditions of the indigenous people. The way of life, from where to gather food, to spirituality was passed down generation to generation via oral story telling. Also, what I am interested in learning is how oral story telling was impacted by Canadian nationalism, and the direction literature took. I fundamentally believe, the best way to understand the historical context of Canada, is to understand history before colonialism, and the adaptations made (or forced…really), once Canada became a colonial home.
Anyways, I am excited to interact with all of you, and learn more about Canadian literature through an indigenous perspective.
Warm regards,
Sashini
I apologize, here are my citations:
Native Story Telling – Bing Images, https://binged.it/30jYeOR.
“Oral Tradition.” Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada, https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/oral-tradition/
Thanks so much for sharing your personal story about colonization. I actually did not know that Sri Lanka was colonized. I think it is really interesting how you talk about how people are “[learning] things through a colonial perspective” (Weerasundara) and I think that is totally true and it happens here in Canada. The education here is totally colonized as in most places students only have the option of being educated through English or French. There are very few schools who offer to educate students in a local Indigenous language. Furthermore, English and French are more socially accepted and are more economically valued in Canadian society compared to Indigenous languages. For instance if you live in Canada you have to speak English or French to to get a job and if someone only spoke an local Indigenous language they would struggle finding a job. Now this causes Indigenous people to be forced into communicating everyday in English or French and this causes their own local language to become less ‘useful’ and this is why now we are seeing in Canada a lot of Indigenous languages dying. In my opinion Canada is still trying to assimilate the Indigenous population as they are being forced into learning and interacting in a colonial language.
Hey Sidney,
That’s very true. I agree the assimilation of Indigenous culture into Canada is washing away their way of life, causing Indigenous languages to die out. This leads to discrimination, and wealth gaps. It really is an unfortunate situation, that puts Indigenous populations at a disadvantage. I really believe you and I can learn a lot from delving into their way of thinking through storytelling.
Hello, Sashini Weerasundara!
I really enjoyed learning a bit about you and Sri Lanka from this post! I’m interested to learn more about the history of the colonization of Sri Lanka, and how it compares to Canada as well as my country, Korea.
Korea also faced Japanese colonization, and until this day, we are dealing with their repercussions. So, independent day in Korea is sad, sorrow, and most of the Korean tries to honors the soul of patriotic heat. How does Sri Lanka’s independent day looks like? Also, I want to know you opinion about it!
Looking forward to hear what you have to say!
-JuYeon Roh
Hi JuYeon,
That’s interesting to know. Sri Lankan Independence Day is a day full of parades and celebration, ans there is also a flag hoisting ceremony. We cook authentic homemade Sri Lankan food, and sweets and share with our family. What is interesting is that, although people celebrate their Independence Day in Sri Lanka, there are many people who still believe that industrialization of the country would not have occurred without colonization, little do they know that most roads and industrialization that has occurred was mainly to export goods into the colonizing country (in this case, Britain) (GEOG 380, Professor Greenberg). This ignorance is mainly due to Western influence, and domination. I could go on and on about it, but colonization happened all around the world, and as you said, we are all still facing the repercussions of it.
Hopefully this class was lift some walls in understanding what life was like for the Indigenous people of this land, pre-Canada.
Hi Sashini,
It’s nice to “meet” you, and thank you for sharing your story! Your blog post caught my attention because we share similar backgrounds in that we come from countries that were once colonies of a European empire. Like Sri Lanka, as you described, evidence of colonization can still be observed in our culture and people’s attitudes to this day. Particularly, colonial mentality is still prevalent in my home country. While it is not the case that every Filipino citizen has this colonial mentality, it is still quite evident that many native Filipinos see other cultures as superior to their own. This is a direct result of being a Spanish colony for over 300 years, and an American colony for 48 years immediately after Spanish rule. I understand that you grew up in Colorado am not sure if you can answer this question fully based on your personal experience, but do you believe that, like in the Philippines, colonial mentality still prevails in Sri Lanka, especially amongst native Sri Lankan citizens?
Thank you for reading my comment, have a great day!
Chino
Hi Shashini!
Thank you for telling us about yourself. I was really intrigued by the notion that some people from your culture may see colonization as a positive element to the culture. This made me think right away of the skin lightning phenomena in Ghana, where I am from. It is essentially the forces of colonization that brainwash the women into thinking that poisoning the body with chemicals in order to make one look “whiter” is better than than living as a black person. My mother smeared creams all over her and in her later years lost the natural protection she had from the sun. It also effected me. As descendants of colonization in Canada, how does one protect oneself from being brainwashed? Why are some more vulnerable than others?
Yours,
Sarah Afful