1 Introduction to ‘Non-British’ Literatures in English: Canada and Australia

Dr. Mrinmoy Pramanick

About The Module

In this module we will learn about the English literature as a category emerged in Australia and Canada. The history of English literature in Canada and Australia will be traced back from the British invasion in the respective regions and their encounter with the native or aborigine people of Australia and Canada. This new category of English literature includes literature written by the European descendants, aboriginal writers, the community literatures of the aboriginal people and the diasporic literatures. This module briefly describes the history of emergence of English literature from Australia and Canada and the role of this new literary category in English literary studies along with significance of these new voices in literature in formation of World literature and the study of Comparative Literature. Such new literary categories in English studies also will be attempted to be understood in comparison with the context of emergence of English literature in India. Through this study this module also will try to understand the politics of literary imagination and representation and needs of different disciplines in literature.

Introduction

The possibility of English literature in Australia and Canada has been emerged with the British invasion in the regions and their communication with the aboriginal communities. Cultural hegemony and administrative power through colonisation and later establishment of Empire, whole process of civilising mission, punishment and making people disciplined penetrated European epistemology and imagination of literature among the people of the colonies. This historical phenomenon is common to all the ex-colonies of the British. British made people learned English and European literature which offered a new exposure among the people of the indigenous communities and brought a sense of requirement of archiving, recording their own knowledge, history and literature which also appeared as resistance against cultural cannibalism of the colonisers. Emergence of aboriginal literature in Australia and Canada was because of different political and historical causes.

Aboriginal people of Australia and Canada were not recognised by the European invader, moreover the land of these people were assumed and announced by the Europeans as the land of no citizens. This is how ignorance and ethnic, cultural, racial, social tortures happened to the people originally lived in the land of Australia and Canada. The beginning of indigenous literature in Australia and Canada happened with the hand of Europeans and/or the hand of the people of European descend, later on a group of indigenous writers emerged from the communities with the expansion of education and rights given to them by the European administrators or the government of the respective regions. We can find three kinds of contribution in the history of indigenous literature in the Australia and Canada as well; one is the literary contribution by the Europeans, like documentation of language, writing grammar of different language, documentation of different cultural forms etc., second is the literature written on or about the indigenous people or about the encounter happened between indigenous people and the Europeans by the European descends and third, which is most powerful, different and revolutionary is the literature written by the indigenous people.

Indigenous literature in Australia and Canada has come across different experiences  in the way of becoming. Urge for establishing identity, establishing voice to reclaiming the existence, voice of protest and resistance against the European colonialism and cultural hegemony marked indigenous literature essential, integral and deeply rooted with the community itself.

What is non-British English Literature? 

Non-British English literature includes the literature written in English or translated into English from the ex-colonies of the British. Such literary category is quite often identified as Commonwealth Literature, New Literature and World Literature. Literatures from such political areas are also subject of interest for Post-Colonial studies since the emergence of Post-Colonial studies in the academic discipline or introduction of this approach in the discipline like English, Post-Colonial Studies, Comparative Literature and World Literature.

But quite often the authors of the literature of these political regions refuse to read their literature as post-colonial literature as their literature carries a history of deeper past and their ancestry. Modern literary genres from European were translated into different indigenous literary cultures. But such literatures kept indigenous essence and content alive in their modern literature. Such literatures in English or in English translation are to revive their past, tradition and heritage. Such writings are also observed as medium to imagine the communities, own identity and raising voices of resistance and protest against colonial rule.

This category of New Literature or new dimension in World Literature brings new tenets in whole understanding of English literature. Emergence of such literary categories also gives new shape to the discipline of English Literary Studies.

New Literature in English

New Literature in English includes literature of Asia, Africa, Black writing, literature of Canada, Australia etc. The study occurs based on the comparative methodology in New Literature. New Literature is a way for understanding literature written in different regions in English from a perspective of post-colonialism. New literature is new in that sense it is not English of British but it shares a history of European colonialism. But new literature is not limited from this perspective but it is a wider scope of understanding different world views which are recorded in different literatures.

Salman Rushdie claimed that, “Commonwealth Literature Does Not Exist”. He further writes, “Isn’t this the very oddest of beasts… a school of literature whose supposed members deny vehemently that they belong to it? Worse these denials are simply disregarded! It seems the creature has taken on a life of its own”. According to him Commonwealth literature appeared as, “that body of writing created … in the English language, by persons who are not themselves white Britons, or Irish, or citizens of the United States of America” (McKenzie, A.D.;). Commonwealth literature is patronised by the British and this very identity of the cluster of literature is from the British point of view. It is Commonwealth because it is about common interest of British in history. This claim of Rushdie is well accepted by the practitioners of English literature in general. Therefore, the cluster of literature which had been known as Commonwealth literature is recognised with different other names.

Hence, Postcolonial literature, New Literature, Emerging Literature, Literature of South Asia or Global South, Literature Asia-Pacific etc. are comparatively new terms to identify the cluster of literature from those countries which were once colonised by the British or Europe in general. But the term Postcolonial literature or Postcolonialism also under question. Many scholars raised such questions like what is postcolonial literature, what is need of identified such particular literary zones as postcolonial etc. To some critics this term postcolonialism itself is very problematic and the well-known meaning of postcolonialism is also under debate. Elleke Boehmer argues all the modern literatures can be called as colonial or postcolonial literature as “owing to the conquest of Britain by the Roman Empire” and she further says that postcolonial literature is literature written by the countries which were earlier British Empire. According to Ania Loomba “postcolonialism is a relatively vogue term” and according to Christine MacLeod, “there is no definitive consensus on what technically constitutes postcoloniality” (3. 3. NEW ENGLISH LITERATURES ONLINE). Therefore, the whole concept of postcolonialism is under this debate that it is more about utopia than a definitive term and methodology of reading literature in English in contemporary World of literature.

World Literature 

World Literature, it seems, is more inclusive and much older term to address literature of different parts of the world. And the very practice of World literature offers rights to the different literary zones to claim their own world literature. World Literature is not any universal category and it never signifies a particular type of literature as world literature. There are different definitions of world literature from different parts of the world by different scholars based on their experience of literature and their very own position. Third World literature, Fourth World literature are different new terms to address new literatures in English and into English translation. World literature changes its cannon quite often and it varies in different academic practices in different parts of the world. N Sreenivas Rao and P Sreenivasulu Reddy defines World Literature, rather Fourth World Literature as, “Fourth World literature refers to the written work of native people living in a land that has been taken over by non-Natives. “Fourth World,” however, is a term that came into use following the formation of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) in 1972. Fourth World people are the original indigenous inhabitants those who existed before European or other colonizers invaded, occupied, or otherwise conquered and settled their homelands” (Rao, N Sreenivasa; Reddy, P Sreenivasalu;). Hence, to discuss about aboriginal Australian and Canadian literature or indigenous, aboriginal literature of any parts of the World, we may have this point of view.

Forth World Literature is not only about introducing new contexts in the concept of World Literature. Forth World literature does not allow native literature into English or in English translation to be mixed with the literature of any other non-European or American literature. Native literature has its own political position and claim in the whole world of literature whether it is practiced in the English, World Literature or Comparative Literature department. Such, claim on literary category conveys its strong voice about distinctness of literature emerged from the native lands.

Such kind of dialogues in literary practices insists of revisiting the concept of World Literature and existing literary identities like the Commonwealth literature or postcolonial literature. World Literature therefore is no more identical or universal or same in different parts of the world. Different parts of the world in academics practices different world literature what makes the literary study an inclusive one and also introduces new canons of literary world.

It is quite interesting to observe the syllabus of world literature of different universities from different parts of the world. The very idea of world literature in practice in English departments reflects the idea of world literature perceived by different cultural regions. This syllabus includes the literature from Australia, New Zealand, Asia-Pacific, Singapore, Hawaii, and Pacific Islands. Indigenous literature, Migrant literature, Diasporic literature and major texts from Australia and New Zealand are taught in the syllabus of World Literature in the NYU, Sydney. In this course of World Literature they address questions like, “How have the cultural, historical, and economic processes of colonialism, diaspora and migration connected and shaped this diverse region? How have different authors addressed these processes in their literary works? How have issues of race and indigeneity been central to various discourses of nationalism? What is the place of these issues in early and more contemporary postcolonial literary works in English? What particular roles have Australia and New Zealand, as colonial powers in their own right, played in the region? Finally, what can the latest generation of migrant writing from Australia show us about new forms of interconnections across the globalising Asia-Pacific?”

Such thrust areas and object of enquiries shows the claim of people of inside to redefine their literature and literary complexities with most authentic claim and ownership. This is indeed required to reform the literary canon from global perspective.

Indigenous or Aboriginal Literature and Comparative Approach Each indigenous literature or aboriginal literature, needless to mention that very unique, independent, different and autonomous literary system and they carry different world view altogether, which is not similar to each other. But it is not difficult to have a pan indigenous or aboriginal concept of indigenous or aboriginal literature and their acceptance by the other aboriginal or indigenous group. Because of the similar kind of shared history and oppression they had to undergo and the treatment of the government or the past imperial forces to them as one or same brings a greater sense of solidarity which makes concept of a pan indigenous literature. How to approach the problems of two worlds, world of indigenous culture, history and literature, and the world of the white or imperialists or the colonisers is a problem to the comparatists. It is quite often argued that the indigenous literature cannot be understood without knowing the context of that literature or the knowledge about that literature. Furthermore, it is also argued that the indigenous literature cannot be understood properly by the non-indigenous literature.

Katherine DURNIN in her “Indigenous Literature and Comparability” talks about barrier in traditional Comparative Literature methodology and proposes some new methodologies to talk about indigenous and non-indigenous literature together. This article also argues that it is paradoxical to read indigenous literature as colonial resistance because it re-establish the fact that such literatures have been produced in the language of colonial domination. Comparative literature as cross-cultural or cross-epistemological is developed with the development publishing indigenous literature. This is how the “bridging theory” develops, where editors, publishers, authors come together to build a category of literature and a comparative framework in the sphere of indigenous literature emerges. One of the objectives of the Indigenous literature in English and in English translation is to talk about nationalism. Comparative literature, though, is “counter-weight to nationalism but it also needs to recognize the local” (Durnin, Katherine;). In spite of talking about deep nationalism indigenous literature is comparative in its very nature as to recognise the local in literature and reframe the canon of literary study.

Australian Literature as English Literature 

“Diffusionist conception”, promoted by the European colonisers made native people of Australia slave in their own land. It was again and again established by the Europeans that the Australian native people does not have any right to their own land because they are yet to be human being. In their article on “Introduction to About Indigenous Literatures”, Angeline O’NEILL and Albert BRAZ, argued that the stereotypes constructed by the Europeans about the native people of Australia still persisted among the writers of aboriginal Australian origin and they actually reacted through their writings against such stereotypes and through their writings they try to re-establish their claim to the land and reclaim their identity also. They argue that the romanticised precolonial perception of the Europeans about the native Australian was even promoted through the school books, and in other side it was also promoted by the colonisers that the Australian aboriginal people are semi-human, drunkard, criminal, abnormal and disorderly. And in response to that many aboriginal writings have been emerged. The authors who have resisted against such stereotypes and perceptions are, “Jack Davis, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Lionel Fogarty, Mudrooroo, Archie Roach, Ruby Langford-Ginibi, Sally Morgan, Tara June Winch, Kim Scott, and Alexis Wright, to name but a few. The Australian contributors to the present collection also write with an awareness of such pervasive and damaging stereotypes” ( O’NEILL and BRAZ ).

Teresa Podemska-Abt pointed out in her “Can Indigenous contemporary literature of Australia sustain itself by becoming international?”, that the indigenous literature in English is different than mainstream literature in English and it is far from the tradition, heritage and content of the mainstream English literature. Indeed the indigenous literature offer completely different world view from the mainstream English literature. The language of the settlers and the colonisers is adapted or chosen to write down the indigenous experiences. And thus the indigenous authors represent most authentic contemporary and historical reality of the indigenous life, community and culture.

“Main and episodic characters are full of spirit and they struggle to adjust to socially accredited positions and battle fabrications about Indigenous tribes and contemporary communities. Readers get a clear picture that all realities, not necessarily only fantasies, can be biased and manipulated by politics and people”.

Canadian Literature as English Literature 

Canadian literature in English is written in territorial Canada or by the Canadians staying outside Canada. Canadian literature in English carries its colonial legacy from British or French colonisers. Indigenous literature of Canada like other indigenous literature finds its root in oral tradition which consists of myths, legends, and folk lore. Mi’kmaq literature, Mohawk literature, Anishinaabe and Ojibway literature, Cree literature etc. composes the whole sphere of indigenous Canadian literature.

Rita Joe, Lorne Simon, Shirley Bear, Teresa Marshall etc. are renowned authors of indigenous Canadian Mikmaq literature. Rita Joe, famous poet talks about her lost culture and languages. Beth Brant, Peter Blue Clod are renowned indigenous Canadian author of Mohawk literature. George Copway, Richard Wagamese and Drew Hayden Taylor are renowned Anishinaabe and Ojibway literature of indigenous Canada. Novelist Tomson Highway is the most renowned author of Cree literature of indigenous Canada.

Indigenous Literature from New Zealand

Indigenous literature of New Zealand got gradual significance in English academia and publishing since last three decades. Indigenous literature of New Zealand brings its heritage from the Maori tradition. Indigenous literature in English revives the almost lost Maori traditions and it offers a critique to the Pakeha literature and culture. Indigenous literature of New Zealand is not only a subject of interest by the English publishing and academia but it also gets its position in different European languages. Oliver Haag in his “A History of Indigenous New Zealand Books in European Translation” presents a historical study of translation of indigenous literature of New Zealand.

Conclusion 

Indigenous literature from Australia and America is not any isolated literary category. Such literary category can be read in connection or comparison with Latin American, African indigenous literature and also with the Indian Bhasha or Indigenous literature from India. Emergence of this new literature in English or in English translation defines World Literature from different perspectives and opens new world views in literary understanding.

An Australian and Canadian indigenous literature keeps record of their own history and restructures their history through literary creation and study. Simultaneously such literatures always sends a message of resistance against the hegemony of colonisers, imperialists and settlers. This experience is common to all the ex-colonies. This is why such literary category has wider reception all over the world. And therefore, the literature of similar kind finds counter parts of their own history with the exchanges of the voices among each other. Therefore, the very nature of addressing such literatures in a discipline appears comparative. Indigeneity is also comparative. A new approach in Comparative Literature emerges from this perspective. Such New Literature in English or Emerging Literature, the way we would prefer to call such literatures, by birth talks about greater solidarity towards the people who lost their language, people, and culture. In this sense, in very nature such literatures are World Literature.

Summary 

In this module we have talked about Indigenous Australian, Canadian and New Zealand literature. We have tried to understand the experiences from or within which such literatures have been emerged. We also have discussed different categories of identifying English literature of non-English origin. We have talked about the terms which are debateable or being refused by the greater world. We talked about Commonwealth literature, Postcolonial literature and limitations of the terms and thereafter we talked about New Literature in English, World Literature and Comparative Literature as a method to read indigenous literature.

References

• O’NEILL , Angeline and Albert BRAZ . “Introduction to About Indigenous Literatures.” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture (2011). <https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1738 &context=clcweb>.
• 3.3. NEW ENGLISH LITERATURES ONLINE. n.d. Web. 11 December 2017.<http://www.english-literature.uni- bayreuth.de/en/projects/Literature_internet/3_3_new_lit/index.html>.
• Durnin, Katherine;. “Indigenous Literature and Comparability .” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture (2011). Electronic. <https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1740 &context=clcweb>.
• McKenzie, A.D.;. LITERATURE: What is Commonwealth Literature? n.d. Web. 11 December 2017. <http://www.ipsnews.net/1997/04/literature-what-is-commonwealth- literature/>.
• “NYU SYDNEY .” World Literature in English II: Australia, New Zealand and the Asia- Pacific. December 2014. Web. <https://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/globalPrgms/documents/Sydney/Syllabi/Syl_ Sydney_ENGL-UA9164_Gamboz_Fall2014.pdf>.
• Podemska-Abt, Teresa ;. “Can Indigenous contemporary literature of Australia sustain itself by becoming international?” n.d. Web. 11 December 2017. <http://w3.unisa.edu.au/cil/csaa/files/Podemska_edited_version.pdf>.
• Rao, N Sreenivasa; Reddy, P Sreenivasalu;. “Forth World Literature: An Introduction.”
• Online International Interdisciplinary Research Journal Vol-III, Special Issue (2013). Web. <http://www.oiirj.org/oiirj/nov2013-special-issue/35.pdf>.