Ephemeral Identity in Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach

• Published in: Illumine: Journal of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society Graduate Students Association
• Main Author: Purhar, Sonu
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Victoria 2014
• Subjects: Haisla; First Nations
• Online Access: https://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/Illumine/article/view/10725; https://doi.org/10.18357/illumine101201110725

Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach addresses issues related to race, historicoppression, and the clash between cultures in a coming-of-age ghost storyset in the Haisla community of Kitimaat, British Columbia. Literaryscholars have discussed the difficulty of the novel’s heroine, LisamarieHill, in reconciling her First Nations and West Coast identities,particularly when she acquires the unique ability to converse with thespirit world; however, the implications of this ability within both herinherited and adopted cultures have largely been ignored. In the contextof her Haisla heritage Lisamarie’s powers are shamanistic, imbuing herwith great responsibility and control within her band’s society–yet shecannot embrace her gift within the contemporary Eurocentric societythat refuses to accept its existence. Though Lisamarie eventually gainscontrol over her powers, the historic and continued oppression of herculture by West Coast society challenges her capability to maintain thisconnection in the modern world.