ENG252Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Soda Fountain, Tish, Arbitrariness
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
ENG252 Lecture 20
Exam
-Part A - 30%
-Part B - 30%
-Part C - 40%
Thomas King
-Extremely important aboriginal writer
-Godzilla vs. Postcolonial
•satire typical of King
-His notion of post colonialism is a mode of resistance
•critical discourse that engages with colonialism from the point of view of the
oppressed
-Canada as a nation state talked about at the expense of first nations
•shaking up the idea of nation and national mythology (set of dominant ideas)
4 categories of first nations’ writing
1. Tribal - exclusively shared by native people
-usually oral and delivered in native languages
2. Interfusional
-Fuses oral and written forms of literature
3. Polemical
-Refers to conflicts between natives and non-natives
-engages with native modes of resistance
-war and tension
4. Associational
!1
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
-describes native society in relation to the society around it
-doesn’t necessarily do it in terms of tension or resistance
-flat description of native daily life and its intricacies
-focuses on totality of the group rather than individuals
-does not set out to dramatise the relationship between natives and non-natives,
heroes and villains, friends and foes
-avoids making judgemental calls
-not enough common ground for empathy
Borders (580)
-Shedding light on the pointlessness of borders
-Permeability of racial categories
-Black foot woman retaining her tribal identity
•self identification, determinism
•paradigmatic parable (short, moral story)
•resistance paradigmatic of the kind of message King wants to portray
-Introduces a sense of ambivalence (12 maybe 13)
•importance of memory but also doubt
-People assume that traditional aboriginal names have a descriptive character
•“Mrs. Manyfingers” - ironic, deliberately used
-Telling us what his sister did through what she did not do
•deconstructing stereotypes about aboriginal people
•avoids the most horrible scenarios
-For the Blackfoot, there is no border
•they exist on both sides
•she cannot come and go as she pleases
!2
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Godzilla vs. postcolonial: satire typical of king. His notion of post colonialism is a mode of resistance: critical discourse that engages with colonialism from the point of view of the oppressed. Canada as a nation state talked about at the expense of rst nations: shaking up the idea of nation and national mythology (set of dominant ideas) 4 categories of first nations" writing: tribal - exclusively shared by native people. Usually oral and delivered in native languages. Fuses oral and written forms of literature: polemical. Refers to con icts between natives and non-natives. Describes native society in relation to the society around it. Doesn"t necessarily do it in terms of tension or resistance. At description of native daily life and its intricacies. Focuses on totality of the group rather than individuals. Does not set out to dramatise the relationship between natives and non-natives, heroes and villains, friends and foes. Shedding light on the pointlessness of borders.
