Metis representations in English and French-Canadian literature
Year:
2001
Author :
Publishing Company:
, University of Calgary
Abstract
In this comparative study of the theme of racial hybridity in four West-Canadian novels (English and French), I examine thematic patterns related to métis hybridity using theoretical concepts that I locate within the complexity of the Canadian social context.
In each novel the métis protagonist is propelled by desire for a white mate and consequently enters into conflict with white society. That narrative pattern is intertwined with themes of absent parents, of métis people as originary figures, and of geographical moves as indicative of social displacement and reintegration.
By comparing how the authors develop these patterns and resolve their métis characters' social conflicts, I conclude that these representations of métis hybridity are illustrative of the unfixity of identity and reflect the literary and ideological purposes of the authors. The fixity of thematic patterns is countered by a narrative diversity that produces a multiplicity of representations.
Theme :
AnglophonesCanadaFrancophonesLiteratureMétis
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