"Native Writers and Canadian Writing" focuses on literature by and about Canada's Native peoples and contains original articles and poems by both Native and non-Native writers. These not only reflect the growing prominence of contemporary Native writing but also direct the reader to the traditional literature from which it springs and which has been largely misunderstood by the non-Native community -- myths, rituals, and songs having been interpreted more often as artistic "curiosities" rather than the masterworks of a different culture. Essays examining the conventional portrayals of Native people in literature touch on works which range from the 18th-century journals of explorer Alexander Mackenzie, to the novels of James Fenimore Cooper, and to early writers in Canada such as historian-humourist Thomas Chandler Haliburton. Studies of Native literature focus on the oral literary traditions of the Haida and Inuit and their transcribers, and on modern works by playwright Tomson Highway and authors Lee Maracle and Thomas King, among others. These commentaries illuminate the way in which Native writers view themselves and their disparate worlds, their gifts for pathos, humour, and self-parody, and their search for their own voices and distinct forms of communication. Viewing Canada's Native peoples in historical, anthropological, and political contexts, the book exposes prejudices and misconceptions entrenched since colonial days regarding Native societies and their moral, spiritual, and political values - values embodied in their hereditary literature. Just as Native visual art has flourished in recent years, the book records the initiatives now being taken by Native societies to preserve and promote their own cultural identity through the spoken and written word. These include control of their own education, creative writing programmes, projects to preserve still extant languages, folklore, songs, and rituals, and the founding of Native publishing houses. Not only are these endeavours valuable contributions to tribal cultures but they also contribute to the past and ongoing literary heritage.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Native Writers and Canadian Writing is so sweeping in its scope and ambition that it creates a kind of spiritual universe of its own, an enchanting place that a reader does not want to leave. Each piece in this breathtaking anthology leads to another ... With the rising at Oka last summer, and what seems the continuing deafness of both Ottawa and Quebec to native concerns, this exhortation to listen is timely. But Native Writers and Canadian Writing is not about immediate political concerns. It provides a context that goes beyond the nightmare of history to timeless human values ... The question of non-natives writing about native subjects is dealt with but on the level of the deep sub-conscious, where many qualities of humanity are the same. The native spirit informs the Americas, and these essays and poems allow us to touch all who once walked the land we all walk ... The spirit of both the men and women in this anthology, the living and the dead, has a transformational magic that can touch us all.
– M.T. Kelly, The Globe and Mail
Its commentary and essays are well selected and organized to give context and meaning to the native writing presented.
– Suzanne Fournier, The Province
English professor W.H. New has compiled an impressive collection of current perspectives on native writers who have assumed some measure of prominence ... as well as some fresh looks at voices from the past.
– Daniel Ray, The Edmonton Journal
– M.T. Kelly, The Globe and Mail
Its commentary and essays are well selected and organized to give context and meaning to the native writing presented.
– Suzanne Fournier, The Province
English professor W.H. New has compiled an impressive collection of current perspectives on native writers who have assumed some measure of prominence ... as well as some fresh looks at voices from the past.
– Daniel Ray, The Edmonton Journal
About the Author
W.H. New is a professor in the English Department at the University of British Columbia and formerly the editor of Canadian Literature.
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