UVM Theses and Dissertations
Format:
Print
Author:
Slater, Elizabeth J.
Dept./Program:
English
Year:
2008
Degree:
MA
Abstract:
In an interview with Bill Moyers, Chinua Achebe states that "The storyteller creates the memory that the survivors must have-otherwise their suffering would have no meaning" (Moyers 337). Indigenous peoples' pasts have been overlooked, denied, and ignored by Western historians and governments. In order to rehte Western versions of their history, native subjects must use their memories to present more truthful versions of their histories. Oftentimes, these memories are painful, but returning to the events of the past enables native subjects to move forward with a sense of meaning in their lives. In Alan Duffs Once Were Warriors and Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach memory and cultural knowledge are characterized as essential to each novel's indigenous characters. Although both works can be characterized by the term "postcolonial literature," it is important to distinguish between the indigenous societies of "settler nations" like New Zealand and Canada and other former colonies that have achieved independence. In New Zealand and Canada the colonizers are still present, and will never leave.
To lay the theoretical groundwork for further discussion of these novels, the introduction deals with postcolonial strategies of mimicry, hybridity, and cultural nationalism. Mimicry and hybridity have had lasting impacts on indigenous cultures, and are essential to the modern day identities of those groups. Cultural nationalism is also important to identity formation and to the cultural knowledge that a group possesses. Chapter one addresses the lives of the Maori characters in Alan Duffs Once Were Warriors. The novel is centered on the Heke family as they attempt to navigate life in Pine Block, a once vibrant community that colonial interference transformed into an urban slum. They have no connection to the natural world, and no knowledge of what it means to be Maori. It is not until the family tragically loses one of their own that Duffs protagonist, Beth Heke, realizes that the reintegration of cultural knowledge in the Maori community is essential to create a sense of meaning and purpose in her people's lives.
The focus of chapter two is the Hill family in Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach. The Hill family is fortunate to have Mama-oo, the paternal grandmother, to pass on the stories and history of the Haisla people in British Columbia. The Haisla people are slowly moving in the direction of Duffs Maori characters. The damaging influence of residential schools is pervasive, and English is rapidly replacing Haisla as the primary tongue of the people in Kitamaat Village. Again, it is clear that the cultural knowledge of Robinson's indigenous characters will be wiped out if they do not make a concerted effort to remember their oral stories and traditional language. In both novels it is clear that as a return to memory and cultural knowledge is made, the result is the creation of a new memory and culture that blend indigenous and Western influences in order to be relevant, yet contain traditional meaning, in the modem world.
To lay the theoretical groundwork for further discussion of these novels, the introduction deals with postcolonial strategies of mimicry, hybridity, and cultural nationalism. Mimicry and hybridity have had lasting impacts on indigenous cultures, and are essential to the modern day identities of those groups. Cultural nationalism is also important to identity formation and to the cultural knowledge that a group possesses. Chapter one addresses the lives of the Maori characters in Alan Duffs Once Were Warriors. The novel is centered on the Heke family as they attempt to navigate life in Pine Block, a once vibrant community that colonial interference transformed into an urban slum. They have no connection to the natural world, and no knowledge of what it means to be Maori. It is not until the family tragically loses one of their own that Duffs protagonist, Beth Heke, realizes that the reintegration of cultural knowledge in the Maori community is essential to create a sense of meaning and purpose in her people's lives.
The focus of chapter two is the Hill family in Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach. The Hill family is fortunate to have Mama-oo, the paternal grandmother, to pass on the stories and history of the Haisla people in British Columbia. The Haisla people are slowly moving in the direction of Duffs Maori characters. The damaging influence of residential schools is pervasive, and English is rapidly replacing Haisla as the primary tongue of the people in Kitamaat Village. Again, it is clear that the cultural knowledge of Robinson's indigenous characters will be wiped out if they do not make a concerted effort to remember their oral stories and traditional language. In both novels it is clear that as a return to memory and cultural knowledge is made, the result is the creation of a new memory and culture that blend indigenous and Western influences in order to be relevant, yet contain traditional meaning, in the modem world.