What Indigenous Literatures Have to Do with Decolonization
This article explores selected poems from Dumont’s A Really Good Brown Girl and The Pemmican Eaters as critical works that address dual aspects of Indigenous decolonization struggles. While the poems from A Really Good Brown Girl adopt the language/poetics of resistance to critique cultural and lin...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Alberta
2023-12-01
|
| Series: | Alternative Francophone |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/af/index.php/af/article/view/29499 |
| _version_ | 1797378107006517248 |
|---|---|
| author | Chinelo Ezenwa |
| author_facet | Chinelo Ezenwa |
| author_sort | Chinelo Ezenwa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This article explores selected poems from Dumont’s A Really Good Brown Girl and The Pemmican Eaters as critical works that address dual aspects of Indigenous decolonization struggles. While the poems from A Really Good Brown Girl adopt the language/poetics of resistance to critique cultural and linguistic discrimination, The Pemmican Eaters focuses on reclaiming and regenerating the author’s Indigenous identity. One of the strategies common to the poems is the repositioning of former derogatory terms to reclaim the Indigenous affirming meanings and histories of these words. By representing these words and memories through a Cree Métis perspective, Dumont subverts popular colonial myths and shows the truth about settler-colonization to the colonizer. Dumont’s poems offer a strong and direct critique of settler-colonization as well as the colonizer’s attempts to control Indigenous bodies and worldviews. And by so doing, they demonstrate the connections between literary activism and ongoing Indigenous journeys to sovereignty.
|
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:03:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-571a2f9707b24a24b9cad2a33497a0e4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1916-8470 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:03:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Alberta |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Alternative Francophone |
| spelling | doaj.art-571a2f9707b24a24b9cad2a33497a0e42023-12-23T13:07:37ZengUniversity of AlbertaAlternative Francophone1916-84702023-12-013310.29173/af29499What Indigenous Literatures Have to Do with DecolonizationChinelo Ezenwa0Western University This article explores selected poems from Dumont’s A Really Good Brown Girl and The Pemmican Eaters as critical works that address dual aspects of Indigenous decolonization struggles. While the poems from A Really Good Brown Girl adopt the language/poetics of resistance to critique cultural and linguistic discrimination, The Pemmican Eaters focuses on reclaiming and regenerating the author’s Indigenous identity. One of the strategies common to the poems is the repositioning of former derogatory terms to reclaim the Indigenous affirming meanings and histories of these words. By representing these words and memories through a Cree Métis perspective, Dumont subverts popular colonial myths and shows the truth about settler-colonization to the colonizer. Dumont’s poems offer a strong and direct critique of settler-colonization as well as the colonizer’s attempts to control Indigenous bodies and worldviews. And by so doing, they demonstrate the connections between literary activism and ongoing Indigenous journeys to sovereignty. https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/af/index.php/af/article/view/29499Marilyn Dumontsettler colonizationculture and language imperalismindigenous resurgence and decolonizationpostcolonialism |
| spellingShingle | Chinelo Ezenwa What Indigenous Literatures Have to Do with Decolonization Alternative Francophone Marilyn Dumont settler colonization culture and language imperalism indigenous resurgence and decolonization postcolonialism |
| title | What Indigenous Literatures Have to Do with Decolonization |
| title_full | What Indigenous Literatures Have to Do with Decolonization |
| title_fullStr | What Indigenous Literatures Have to Do with Decolonization |
| title_full_unstemmed | What Indigenous Literatures Have to Do with Decolonization |
| title_short | What Indigenous Literatures Have to Do with Decolonization |
| title_sort | what indigenous literatures have to do with decolonization |
| topic | Marilyn Dumont settler colonization culture and language imperalism indigenous resurgence and decolonization postcolonialism |
| url | https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/af/index.php/af/article/view/29499 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chineloezenwa whatindigenousliteratureshavetodowithdecolonization |