Title: The one about Coyote going West : mimesis and ethics in multicultural literary landscapes of Canada and Australia
Source document: Brno studies in English. 2011, vol. 37, iss. 1, pp. [173]-190
Extent
[173]-190
-
ISSN0524-6881 (print)1805-0867 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2011-1-12
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/118130
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
Appropriation of indigenous voice and/or subject appropriation (as defined by James O. Young and Susan Haley) in a literary space of the two multicultural postcolonial locations, Canada and Australia, lays bare a very uneasy palimpsest of postcoloniality. Conflation of two different views, that of literary works being the constructs of possible worlds (mimesis), i.e. the space of textual freedom, and literary works being limited by postcolonial ethics especially when they attempt to map the cultural space of the postcolonial other, reveals the setbacks of postcolonial hybridity turning it into a possible minefield. The implications of alleged freedom of creative act is discussed in the context of cultural appropriation leading to various literary "borrowings" and "hoaxes", and the function of Native/Aboriginal author by showing various views coming from Canadian and Australian Indigenous literati and scholars who most ardently oppose to the outsider's appropriation of Indigenous imagery. The quote from Thomas King's seminal short story in the title of the paper serves as a metaphor for a doublebind effect of careless appropriation of Indigenous stories by non-Indigenous writers.
References
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[2] Besner, Neil ([2003] 2005) 'What Resides in the Question, "Is Canada Postcolonial?"'. In: Moss, Laura (ed.) Is Canada Postcolonial?: Unsettling Canadian Literature. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 40–48.
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[9] Frazer, Robert (2000) Lifting the Sentence: A Poetics of Postcolonial Fiction, Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press.
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[11] Heiss, Anita M. (2003) Dhuuluu-Yala. To Talk Straight. Publishing Indigenous Literature. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
[12] Hutcheon, Linda (2004) 'Circling the Downspout of Empire: Post-colonialism and Postmodernism'. In: Sugars, Synthia (ed.) Unhomely States. Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 71–93.
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[14] King, Thomas ([1993] 1999) One Good Story, That One. Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
[15] Maracle, Lee (2004) 'The "Post-Colonial" Imagination'. In: Sugars, Synthia (ed.) Unhomely States. Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 204–8.
[16] Moses, Daniel David and Terry Goldie (1998) 'Preface to the First Edition: Two Voices'. In: Moses, Daniel David and Terry Goldie (eds.) Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English, 2nd ed. Toronto: Oxford University Press, xix–xxix.
[17] Moss, Laura ([2003] 2005) 'Is Canada Postcolonial? Introducing the Question'. In: Moss, Laura (ed.) Is Canada Postcolonial?: Unsettling Canadian Literature. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1–24.
[18] Muecke, Stephen (1992) Textual Spaces: Aboriginality and Cultural Studies. Kensington: New South Wales University Press Ltd.
[19] Nicholls, Christine (2000) From Appreciation to Appropriation: Indigenous Influences and Images in Australian Visual Art (Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Flinders University Art Museum City Gallery, 5 March–16 April 2000). Adelaide, South Australia: Flinders University Art Museum.
[20] Nolan, Maggie (2004) 'In His Own Sweet Time: Carme's Coming Out'. In: Nolan, Maggie and Carrie Dawson (eds.) Who's Who? Hoaxes, Impostures and Identity Crises in Australian Literature. Australian Literary Studies, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 134–48.
[21] Nolan, Maggie and Carrie Dawson (2004) 'Who's Who? Mapping Hoaxes and Imposture in Australian Literary History'. In: Nolan, Maggie and Carrie Dawson (eds.) Who's Who? Hoaxes, Impostures and Identity Crises in Australian Literature. Australian Literary Studies, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, v–xx.
[22] Riemenschneider, Dieter (2005) 'GLOBAL FANTASY – GLOCAL IMAGINATION. The New Literatures in English and Their Fantastic ImagiNations'. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 41(1), 14–25. | DOI 10.1080/17449850500062766
[23] Slemon, Stephen (1996) 'Post-colonial Critical Theories'. In: King, Bruce (ed.) New National and Post-colonial Literatures. An Introduction. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 179–97.
[24] Smyth Groening, Laura (2004) Listening to the Old Woman Speak. Natives and AlterNatives in Canadian Literature. Montreal and Kingston, London, Ithaca: McGill-Queen's University Press.
[25] Sugars, Cynthia (ed.) (2004) Unhomely States. Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press.
[26] Swift, Jonathan ([1962] 1986) Gulliver's Travels and Other Writings, Edited and with an Introduction by Miriam Kash Starkman. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland: Bantam Books.
[27] Tiffin, Helen (1996) 'Plato's Cave: Educational and Critical Practices'. In: King, Bruce (ed.) New National and Post-colonial Literatures. An Introduction. Oxford: Clarendon Press: 143–63.
[28] Tynjanov, Jurij (1978) 'On Literary Evolution'. In: Matejka, Ladislav and Krystyna Pomorska (eds.) Reading in Russian Poetics: Formalist and Structuralist Views. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Michigan Slavic Publications, 66–78.
[29] Van Toorn, Penny (2000) 'Indigenous Texts and Narratives'. In: Webby, Elizabeth (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 19–49.
[30] Vongar B. (2004) Svet u pustinji. Niš: Prosveta.
[31] Wyile, Herb (2002) Contemporary Canadian Novelists and the Writing of History. Speculative Fictions. Montreal: McGuill-Queen's University Press.
[32] Young, James O. (2010) Cultural Appropriation and the Arts. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.
[33] Young, James O. and Conrad G. Brunk (2009) 'Introduction'. In: Young James O. and Conrad G. Brunk (eds.) The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell, 1–10.
[34] Young, James O. and Susan Haley (2009) '"Nothing Comes from Nowhere": Reflections on Cultural Appropriation as the Representation of Other Cultures'. In: Young James O. and Conrad G. Brunk (eds.) The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell, 268–88.
[2] Besner, Neil ([2003] 2005) 'What Resides in the Question, "Is Canada Postcolonial?"'. In: Moss, Laura (ed.) Is Canada Postcolonial?: Unsettling Canadian Literature. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 40–48.
[3] Bhabha, Homi K. (1994) The Location of Culture. London and New York: Routledge.
[4] Boehmer, Elleke (1995) Colonial and Postcolonial Literature. Migrant Metaphors. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
[5] Brydon, Diana ([2003] 2005) 'Canada and Postcolonialism: Questions, Inventories, and Futures'. In: Moss, Laura (ed.) Is Canada Postcolonial?: Unsettling Canadian Literature. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 49–77.
[6] Brydon, Diana (2004) 'Reading Postcoloniality, Reading Canada'. In: Sugars, Synthia (ed.) Unhomely States. Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press: 165–79.
[7] Ellis, Cath (2004) 'Helping Yourself: Marlo Morgan and the Fabrication of Indigenous Wisdom'. In: Nolan, Maggie and Carrie Dawson (eds.) Who's Who? Hoaxes, Impostures and Identity Crises in Australian Literature. Australian Literary Studies, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 149–64.
[8] Fee, Margery (1987) 'Romantic Nationalism and the Image of Native People in Contemporary English-Canadian Literature'. In: King, Thomas, Cheryl Calver and Helen Hoy (eds.) The Native in Literature: Canadian and Comparative Perspectives. Toronto: ECW Press, 15–33.
[9] Frazer, Robert (2000) Lifting the Sentence: A Poetics of Postcolonial Fiction, Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press.
[10] Griffiths, Gareth (1996) 'The Post-colonial Project: Critical Approaches and Problems'. In: King, Bruce (ed.) New National and Post-colonial Literatures. An Introduction. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 165–77.
[11] Heiss, Anita M. (2003) Dhuuluu-Yala. To Talk Straight. Publishing Indigenous Literature. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
[12] Hutcheon, Linda (2004) 'Circling the Downspout of Empire: Post-colonialism and Postmodernism'. In: Sugars, Synthia (ed.) Unhomely States. Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 71–93.
[13] Jakobson, Roman (1978) 'The Dominant'. In: Matejka, Ladislav and Krystyna Pomorska (eds.) Reading in Russian Poetics: Formalist and Structuralist Views. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Michigan Slavic Publications, 82–7.
[14] King, Thomas ([1993] 1999) One Good Story, That One. Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
[15] Maracle, Lee (2004) 'The "Post-Colonial" Imagination'. In: Sugars, Synthia (ed.) Unhomely States. Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 204–8.
[16] Moses, Daniel David and Terry Goldie (1998) 'Preface to the First Edition: Two Voices'. In: Moses, Daniel David and Terry Goldie (eds.) Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English, 2nd ed. Toronto: Oxford University Press, xix–xxix.
[17] Moss, Laura ([2003] 2005) 'Is Canada Postcolonial? Introducing the Question'. In: Moss, Laura (ed.) Is Canada Postcolonial?: Unsettling Canadian Literature. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1–24.
[18] Muecke, Stephen (1992) Textual Spaces: Aboriginality and Cultural Studies. Kensington: New South Wales University Press Ltd.
[19] Nicholls, Christine (2000) From Appreciation to Appropriation: Indigenous Influences and Images in Australian Visual Art (Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Flinders University Art Museum City Gallery, 5 March–16 April 2000). Adelaide, South Australia: Flinders University Art Museum.
[20] Nolan, Maggie (2004) 'In His Own Sweet Time: Carme's Coming Out'. In: Nolan, Maggie and Carrie Dawson (eds.) Who's Who? Hoaxes, Impostures and Identity Crises in Australian Literature. Australian Literary Studies, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 134–48.
[21] Nolan, Maggie and Carrie Dawson (2004) 'Who's Who? Mapping Hoaxes and Imposture in Australian Literary History'. In: Nolan, Maggie and Carrie Dawson (eds.) Who's Who? Hoaxes, Impostures and Identity Crises in Australian Literature. Australian Literary Studies, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, v–xx.
[22] Riemenschneider, Dieter (2005) 'GLOBAL FANTASY – GLOCAL IMAGINATION. The New Literatures in English and Their Fantastic ImagiNations'. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 41(1), 14–25. | DOI 10.1080/17449850500062766
[23] Slemon, Stephen (1996) 'Post-colonial Critical Theories'. In: King, Bruce (ed.) New National and Post-colonial Literatures. An Introduction. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 179–97.
[24] Smyth Groening, Laura (2004) Listening to the Old Woman Speak. Natives and AlterNatives in Canadian Literature. Montreal and Kingston, London, Ithaca: McGill-Queen's University Press.
[25] Sugars, Cynthia (ed.) (2004) Unhomely States. Theorizing English-Canadian Postcolonialism. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press.
[26] Swift, Jonathan ([1962] 1986) Gulliver's Travels and Other Writings, Edited and with an Introduction by Miriam Kash Starkman. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland: Bantam Books.
[27] Tiffin, Helen (1996) 'Plato's Cave: Educational and Critical Practices'. In: King, Bruce (ed.) New National and Post-colonial Literatures. An Introduction. Oxford: Clarendon Press: 143–63.
[28] Tynjanov, Jurij (1978) 'On Literary Evolution'. In: Matejka, Ladislav and Krystyna Pomorska (eds.) Reading in Russian Poetics: Formalist and Structuralist Views. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Michigan Slavic Publications, 66–78.
[29] Van Toorn, Penny (2000) 'Indigenous Texts and Narratives'. In: Webby, Elizabeth (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 19–49.
[30] Vongar B. (2004) Svet u pustinji. Niš: Prosveta.
[31] Wyile, Herb (2002) Contemporary Canadian Novelists and the Writing of History. Speculative Fictions. Montreal: McGuill-Queen's University Press.
[32] Young, James O. (2010) Cultural Appropriation and the Arts. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell.
[33] Young, James O. and Conrad G. Brunk (2009) 'Introduction'. In: Young James O. and Conrad G. Brunk (eds.) The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell, 1–10.
[34] Young, James O. and Susan Haley (2009) '"Nothing Comes from Nowhere": Reflections on Cultural Appropriation as the Representation of Other Cultures'. In: Young James O. and Conrad G. Brunk (eds.) The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley Blackwell, 268–88.