Anna Historic and Ravensong

Ana past is a poetic tonic ab expose a woman named Annie who disc e realplaces Mrs. Richards, a woman of no history, in Vancouvers civic archives. Annie becomes obsess with the possibilities of Mrs. Richards livelihood. The impudent is write by Daphne Marlatt, a Canadian poet. predatesong is a fictional allegory nigh a s even upteen year-old inhering girl who tries to bridge the gap betwixt the traditionalistic ways of her autochthonous closure and discolour-hot societys incursive new values. antedatesong is write by leeward Maracle, a First Nations writer and poet. some(prenominal) of these fabrications piddle brought forth historic issues pertaining to Wo lamforces and Gender Studies such(prenominal) as colonialism, gender, c atomic number 18 of violence, and lesbianism. This paper will focus on the topic of internality and colonialism. These two novels yield further educated me on some(prenominal) things. For example, after reading Ana diachronic, I as certained that there atomic number 18 various communicatory forms and way of lifes other than traditional European models.Daphne Marlatt uses create verbally styles such as ecriture feminine in which feminist writers try to use their induce bodies as a source for piece of writing (Sand 10) and gynesis, which is an aesthetic strategy which puts gender, familiarity and motherliness into public discourse (Sand 10). I to a fault learned how femininity is constructed in a livid middle class surroundings by dint of what is considered appropriate conduct for a woman (Sand 10). After reading preysong, I discovered that in traditional primeval civilization, men neer entered the house of unmarried women without a man cosmos enter (Maracle 103).This novel has also taught me about the important fictional character of Raven, the trickster who is utilize to send away the boundaries between indispensable and white stopping point (Sand 20). The novels are real antithetic in terms of narrative styles, point-of-views, time periods, and how lesbianism and the authority of nature play out in the story. Daphne Marlatt uses a postmodern narrative style, eyepatch lee Maracle uses a combination of native and European narrative approaches. Ravensong is written from the point-of-view of a young native woman, whereas Ana Historic is written from the outlook of a white, middle-class woman.Lesbianism plays out differently in each novel. In Ana Hisotric, Annie slowly comes to terms with her familiarity and last realizes that she is a lesbian. In Ravensong, Staceys friends Rena and German Judy are a lesbian couple. The fiber of nature in Ravensong is indivisible from homo life and landscape (Sand 20), where as in Ana Historic it is a place of repose and cause of dismay (Sand 20). Ravensong takes place in the 1950s and Ana Historic takes place more often than non in the 1950s and 1870s (Mrs. Richards). Colonialism and sex are topics which are closely co r related to. They are two about dominance, standard, discourse and race.Sexuality is delimit as the historical organization and regulation of proneness and versed practices into mixer identities that are constructed as if they emerge from nature (Sand 18). Daphne Marlatt and leeward Maracle deal with this subject in very different ways. In Ravensong, sexual urge is associated with put d possess and suicide. In Ana historic, sexuality is associated with mothering and lesbianism. Colonialism is the extension of a nations sovereignty over territory beyond its b order of magnitudes by the brass section of either settletle colonies or creating administrative dependencies in which native or autochthonal populations are directly ruled (Patel 8).Ravensong is written from the perspective of colonised people whereas Ana Historic is written from the standpoint of the colonizers. In the novel Ana Historic, Inas mothering impacts Annies perception of sexuality. Ina taught her daughte rs sexuality was something to be xenophobic of you taught us your fear, you taught us what you knew about a world where even uncles were not to be trusted. you grew more unnerved as our sexuality came budding to the onwards (Marlatt 34). Annie tries to write her ego out of the patriarchal limitations of heterosexualism that confound bounded her mother Ina to a life of domesticity.She does this by freeing herself from her utilization as supportive house wife and re-writing her relationship with Ina (Sand 10). Annie realizes that feminine behaviour is not actually something natural and inevitable only it is rather an unnatural social construction. Annie writes you taught me the spooky hole in myself and how to cover it up cover girl, the great cover-story women inherit in fashion and makeup. You taught me how i was supposed to look, the feminine act (Marlatt 61). Annie also recognizes the inheritance of mothers (Maralatt 60) that passes on sexual repression from generation to generation.For instance, Ina says to Annie, what do you manage about repression? you were hardly a virginal when you married, were you? I didnt know the primary thing about sex your nan simply refused to discuss it, though i begged her (Marlatt 60). Marlatt avoids heteronormativity which is a belief and a set of cultural/institutional practices that enforce heterosexuality as dominant, essential and natural (Sand 18), by creating a sexualized lesbian relationship between Annie and her friend Zoe.While creating a life for Mrs. Richards, Annie begins to realize that she is attracted to Zoe and she writes her into the story by creating a character named Birdie Stewart. Annie writes about the sexual propensity she aromas for Zoe in her imagined life of Mrs. Richards, you cover intrigued, and your body turning in its ache skirt, is caught in the act, you have caught yourself turning in Birdies eyes (Marlatt 109). Annies inherent fear of sexuality sur spirits in her imagined life for Mrs. Richard. Birdie recognizes Mrs.Richards fear of her witness sexual identity, she says, but youre afraid my dear, afraid of your own twat (Marlatt 135). She addresses her fear of lesbian sexuality when she says You fear what you want. am I right, my love? (Marlatt 139). Mrs. Richards is suddenly hie with desire, she admits the truth of it and feels it written across her face (Marlatt 139). Annie finally gives in to her sexual desire for Zoe and the novel ends with a climatic sexual poem. Annies lesbian sexuality surfaces as a result of the decolonization butt Marlatt inscribes for Annie and Mrs. Richards (Sand 10).In her novel Narrative Deconstructions of Gender, Caroline Rosenthal defines sexual decolonization as a debate on whether women are colonized by compulsory heterosexuality in ways only decolonizing strategies and the practice of deprecative consciousness fecal matter undo (106). Marlatt deviates from the sexual oppression of middle-class white women by revisioning a lesbian life for Mrs. Richards. The hassle of the intersection of women and the oppression of the indigenous presently surfaces in Ana Historic.While Mrs. Richards is walking through the woods she comes across two Siwash men who are simply passing by. Where they rummy? Perhaps they were furious and humblet to do her detriment (Marlatt 41). The assumptions that Mrs. Richards makes about these men are related to negative stereotypes such as the drunk squaw that colonizers created to justify taking over Native land (Anderson 229). In the beginning of the novel Ravensong, Stacey learns that one of her white classmates, Polly, committed suicide. Polly has killed herself in response to the shame she felt about being publicly identified as having been sexually active with some other boy in Staceys class.Stacey becomes very provoked with the reactions of some of her classmates to Pollys lack of excellence (Maracle 28). She couldnt believe how small and mean they all were. So what if Polly had a myopic fun last night? free deal (Maracle 28) Stacey does not understand the social disapproval of Polly because in her nuance sexuality is seen with humour and is openly joked about. For example, Ella the village elderly asks Stacey What you going to save me for, have another baby? The women respond with laughter axiom Sure, why not Ella. You probably shut away like trying. They were on a roll, vexer Ella about her zeal for men (Maracle 50).Raven pushes Stacey to come to grips with the loss of her classmate by guiding her to search Pollys culture and history. Wander around Pollys insides, feel your way through decades, generations of lostness (Marlatt 39). In doing so Stacey discovers that white culture views sexuality very differently than her own culture. She realizes that Polly had a fierce home life and that white townsfolkshipsfolkshipshipsfolk had no support for Pollys mother. In the end what struck her about Judys narrative was t he lack of support in the white community for Pollys mom.Where was the family in all this? (Marlatt 81) Stacey is surprised by this because in her culture sexuality is natural, a collapse of everyday life. People love, laugh and have babies (Marlattt 71). In her thesis Rebelling against discourses of denial and goal, Rachel Deutsch writes that in European ideology, sexuality and sexual acts, particularly involving women, were seen as deviant (30). This ideology starts to make for Stacey to reject some aspects of her own culture such as the anger and offense she feels towards her mother for wanting to remain sexual after the death of her husband.In Kim Andersons article, The construction of a Negative Identity, she states that colonizers created a negative sexual identity for Native women in order to justify taking over Indian land (229). The corruptive squaw image made it easier to cover up the reality of Native women who were merely assay with the increasingly inhuman condi tions on taciturnity (Anderson 231). This negative sexual identity presents itself in the novel when Stacey talks about the racial discrimination she experiences at school.A few of them hurled insults and racial epithets at her, whispered cleutch as she passed them (Maracle 69). A cleutch refers to a Native females private parts. Colonialism first presents itself at the very beginning of the novel when Celia sees a tall(a) ship approaching the village fill with men. In this moment, Celia feels the impending doom of colonialism on her people and culture. Fear, cold and thin, wove itself into Celias self (Maracle 10). Another instance of colonialism experienced by the village lies in the general phlegm of white town towards the flu pestilential that takes galore(postnominal) Native lives.Colonialism also surfaces in the relationship between Stacey and Steve, a white boy from her class. Colonialism led to the eradication and destruction of aboriginal cultures which assist in the description on why the doctors of white town were unwilling to treat the villagers. Stacey believes it is because their lives are deemed slight valuable. Under the shabby arguments about hospitals being full and doctors already overworked lay an hard assumption white folks are more deserving (Maracle 69). Stacey sees Steve and other white people as controlling oppressors.She resists white power (colonization) many times throughout the book. Stacey resists her teachers authority and she also resists Steves desire for her. The slave had just given an order to the master, which made him an ex-master. Neither man knew what it was to be an ex-master, so both were confused and stick out (Maracle 75). Her growing frustration for white towns lack of compassion towards wo(e) villagers is obvious in her attitude towards Steve. Stacey can no longer stand the racism and she tells Steve exactly how she feels.She tells him that he will never know what her and her people have gone(a) through and asks him How did it feel to watch us die, Steve? (Maracle 186). Steve leaves in shame and Stacey realizes that he was not for her. Ana Historic and Ravensong have taught me several things that I was unaware of before reading them. I have learned that there exists many different writing styles and narrative approaches such as ecriture feminine and gynesis used by Daphne Marlatt and the conventions of Native orature (Sand 20) used by Lee Maracle.Ive learned how femininity is constructed in Ana Historic and about the important role that Raven plays in Ravensong. Marlatt and Maracle deal with colonialism and sexuality throughout the novel in a way which allows the reader to self-reflect on their own come ins and understandings of these topics. Non-Native readers are removed from their usual hegemonic position by Staceys objectification of white town in Ravensong (Sand 20). Marlatts experimentation with phrase challenges the reader to both examine and see the world in a differen t way.What impacted me the most about Ana Historic is Daphne Marlatts theory and practice of fictionalysis which is a combination of fiction and analysis used as a means to explore self-identity. Marlatt starts with facts from her own life and from history and uses her visual sense to create an intersecting territory where fact and fiction co-exist (Sand 10). I enjoyed how she used this style in Annies reconstruction of traditional history through the life she makes up for Mrs. Richards. The role that Raven plays in the novel is what impacted me most about Ravensong.Raven acknowledges the gulf between white town and the village and knows that it needs to be bridged in order to prevent further catastrophe. Raven guides the plague of the flu epidemic in attempt to expose white town to the diversity of the world and to teach them to work together. The inability of white town to turn over the lesson leads to the destruction of the indigenous community. Both novels bring important is sues and concerns to women and gender studies and I sincerely appreciate the different perspective that each novel has given me. Ana Historic and Ravensong have contributed important lessons, concepts and theories to this course.