Assignment 3:5

Question number 6 at the end of the lesson: Find three examples of names that need to be spoken aloud in order to catch the allusion. Discuss the examples as well as the reading technique that requires you to read aloud in order to make connections. Why does King want us to read aloud?

 Thomas King is an excellent storyteller, and his expertise lies in orality. King wants us to read aloud because stories are different when they’re told out loud. This way of telling stories respects traditional Indigenous orality. Patricia Linton writes that oral learning is traditional in Indigenous communities, and literary learning is seen as “elite” to many. Generally, Indigenous published authors are highly educated in the western world, as this learning form is what is recognized. Therefore, to express in a way that’s accepted (i.e. published), under western rule, they must write their knowledge down. But, Linton alleges that learning via oral tradition – and the knowledge that it passes on, is unique to traditional indigenous populations (amongst the literary educated elite) (Linton 1999). King then, takes a novel like Green Grass Running Water (GGRW), and makes it only fully understood by people who hold both sets of elite knowledge, and to pay respect to the deep knowledge that traditional Indigenous orality holds. This gives the orally trained group a different kind of advantage in understanding his stories. King uses allusions throughout his works, and especially throughout GGRW, that are only noticeable when read aloud. One way he does this is through the character’s names. This style is also known as “trickster discourse” (Linton 1999). Below, I will provide three examples from GGRW where King does this.

  1. Dr. Joseph Hovaugh (page 16) – this is a Biblical reference, via a play on the name Jehovah, from the Holy Bible, specifically in Genesis 1:31. The character Dr. Hovaugh runs an asylum in Florida, and keeps being notified by his assistant (Mary) that “the Indians are back” but he seems to be unable to do anything but stare at and admire his garden. In Genesis 1:31, it reads “And God everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31; Flick 1999). Jane Flick compares this to King’s page 16 description of Dr. Hauvaugh looking at his garden “and he was pleased.” (Flick 1999; King 1993).
  1. Eli Stands Alone (page 110) – According to Jane Flick’s reading notes, this character is an allusion to the Meech Lake Constitutional Accord in 1990 because of one vote by Elijah Harper (Manitoba Legislature) and resulted in blocking the Accord (Flick 1999).
  1. Duncan Scott (Lionel’s boss page 55) – Reference to Duncan Campbell Scott, a Conferation Poet in Canadian literature, who worked in the Department of Indian Affairs and became Deputy Superintendent in 1923 (Flick 1999). Scott was responsible for ordering the prosecution of First Nations who took part in feasts or potlatches but he was also known for writing romanticized poetry about them (Flick 1999). King refers to this concept of Duncan Campbell Scott on page 60, when Lionel talks with Duncan Scott about issues at work because of false charges. Lionel feels better because Duncan Scott tells him not to worry and calms him down, but after hanging up he remembers that he’s still in trouble (King 1993).

Works Cited

Flick, Jane. “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass Running Water”. Canadian Literature, 161:162 Summer-Autum 1999. Web. https://canlit.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/canlit161-162-ReadingFlick.pdf

King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. Toronto:  Harper Collins, 1993. Print

Linton, Patricia. “”And Here’s How It Happened”: Trickster Discourse in Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.” MFS Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 45 no. 1, 1999, pp. 212-234. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/mfs.1999.0007.

http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/article/21363

Weber-Pillwax, Cora. “Orality in northern Cree indigenous worlds”. Canadian Journal of Native Education,25.2 (2001): 149-165. Web.

http://search.proquest.com/openview/301b2fb96d526d6dac2468edaafaa8c3/1?pq-origsite=gscholar