"One Tricky Coyote": The fiction of Thomas King
This thesis evaluates the literary achievement of Thomas King from an individual Aboriginal perspective by examining specifically his novels, Medicine River and Green Grass, Running Water, with reference to his short stories. It argues that textual readings which merely impose the Western literary t...
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ftwlaurieruniv:oai:scholars.wlu.ca:etd-1001 2023-06-11T04:11:43+02:00 "One Tricky Coyote": The fiction of Thomas King Lavalley, Giselle Rene 1996-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/2 https://scholars.wlu.ca/context/etd/article/1001/viewcontent/MM11449.PDF unknown Scholars Commons @ Laurier https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/2 https://scholars.wlu.ca/context/etd/article/1001/viewcontent/MM11449.PDF Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) English Language and Literature Indigenous Studies text 1996 ftwlaurieruniv 2023-05-07T16:36:21Z This thesis evaluates the literary achievement of Thomas King from an individual Aboriginal perspective by examining specifically his novels, Medicine River and Green Grass, Running Water, with reference to his short stories. It argues that textual readings which merely impose the Western literary tradition upon Aboriginal texts invariably limit their scope of interpretation and understanding. The study of Aboriginal literature necessitates a holistic approach that involves historical, political, and cultural contextualizations. I note briefly the cultural differences between my own response and non-Aboriginal responses, the latter mostly in the form of reviews, and proceed to analyze issues present in King's texts which I considered culturally relevant. The three topics that materialized prominently in and unify King's fiction are: identity politics, cultural resiliency, and the Aboriginal oral tradition. My consideration of Medicine River includes an exploration of the intersubjectivity of truth and story-telling, whereas that of Green Grass, Running Water entails an examination of: technology's negative impact upon the natural world as well as on the First Nations and their cultures: Western literature and visual media as colonizing agents; and the ways in which Aboriginal re-visions of celebrated texts and stories of the Western literary canon foreground marginalized knowledges. Other related issues include: the image of the "Indian"; King's treatment of Western myths and stereotypes of Aboriginals, and the Aboriginal responses to them; the fictional non-Aboriginal responses and attitudes towards Aboriginal beliefs and customs; the significance of the land to First Nations' cultures: and the politics of land claims. By locating King's novels in historical, political, and cultural sites, this thesis underscores the importance of recognizing race and ethnicity in analyses of Aboriginal texts. Text First Nations Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario: Scholars Commons@Laurier Indian |
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Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario: Scholars Commons@Laurier |
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English Language and Literature Indigenous Studies |
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English Language and Literature Indigenous Studies Lavalley, Giselle Rene "One Tricky Coyote": The fiction of Thomas King |
topic_facet |
English Language and Literature Indigenous Studies |
description |
This thesis evaluates the literary achievement of Thomas King from an individual Aboriginal perspective by examining specifically his novels, Medicine River and Green Grass, Running Water, with reference to his short stories. It argues that textual readings which merely impose the Western literary tradition upon Aboriginal texts invariably limit their scope of interpretation and understanding. The study of Aboriginal literature necessitates a holistic approach that involves historical, political, and cultural contextualizations. I note briefly the cultural differences between my own response and non-Aboriginal responses, the latter mostly in the form of reviews, and proceed to analyze issues present in King's texts which I considered culturally relevant. The three topics that materialized prominently in and unify King's fiction are: identity politics, cultural resiliency, and the Aboriginal oral tradition. My consideration of Medicine River includes an exploration of the intersubjectivity of truth and story-telling, whereas that of Green Grass, Running Water entails an examination of: technology's negative impact upon the natural world as well as on the First Nations and their cultures: Western literature and visual media as colonizing agents; and the ways in which Aboriginal re-visions of celebrated texts and stories of the Western literary canon foreground marginalized knowledges. Other related issues include: the image of the "Indian"; King's treatment of Western myths and stereotypes of Aboriginals, and the Aboriginal responses to them; the fictional non-Aboriginal responses and attitudes towards Aboriginal beliefs and customs; the significance of the land to First Nations' cultures: and the politics of land claims. By locating King's novels in historical, political, and cultural sites, this thesis underscores the importance of recognizing race and ethnicity in analyses of Aboriginal texts. |
format |
Text |
author |
Lavalley, Giselle Rene |
author_facet |
Lavalley, Giselle Rene |
author_sort |
Lavalley, Giselle Rene |
title |
"One Tricky Coyote": The fiction of Thomas King |
title_short |
"One Tricky Coyote": The fiction of Thomas King |
title_full |
"One Tricky Coyote": The fiction of Thomas King |
title_fullStr |
"One Tricky Coyote": The fiction of Thomas King |
title_full_unstemmed |
"One Tricky Coyote": The fiction of Thomas King |
title_sort |
"one tricky coyote": the fiction of thomas king |
publisher |
Scholars Commons @ Laurier |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/2 https://scholars.wlu.ca/context/etd/article/1001/viewcontent/MM11449.PDF |
geographic |
Indian |
geographic_facet |
Indian |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_source |
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) |
op_relation |
https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/2 https://scholars.wlu.ca/context/etd/article/1001/viewcontent/MM11449.PDF |
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1768386992428548096 |