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GREEN GRASS, RUNNING WATER

GREEN GRASS, RUNNING WATER. CONTINUED. Satire on Canadians. P.155-159 – Canadian tourists contrasted to American tourists. The names of the tourists: P.Johnson A.Belaney J.Richardson. Pauline Johnson Archibald Belaney. John Richardson’s Wacousta. A proto-Western:

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GREEN GRASS, RUNNING WATER

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  1. GREEN GRASS,RUNNING WATER CONTINUED

  2. Satire on Canadians • P.155-159 – Canadian tourists contrasted to American tourists. • The names of the tourists: P.Johnson A.Belaney J.Richardson

  3. Pauline Johnson Archibald Belaney

  4. John Richardson’s Wacousta • A proto-Western: • Blood-thirsty Indians • White girl abducted • Indians defeated • White “good guys” • A specific perspective on real history (Pontiac’s Rebellion 1763 )

  5. Aboriginal History The Sun Dance Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee trailer Wounded Knee Massacre (1890) Wounded Knee Occupation (1973)

  6. Themes and Conflict What is the conflict in Green Grass Running Water? What themes are there in King’s novel? Make a list of them.

  7. Culture Clash 1. Compare Noah’s rules p.145 and 147; “animals don’t talk” p.144. 2. Find the connection between Dr.Hovaugh’s desk p.16, his “inexplicable” guilt over cut down trees p.73; rules p. 74 and talking trees p. 40-41.

  8. Clash of Mythologies 3. How does the steak house setting and the burlesque show (pp.209-212) account for the characters’ attitude to their identity? Point to other episodes adding to the theme of identity. 4. What similarities are there between Ahab and Noah?

  9. Clash of Mythologies 5. Thought Woman meets A.A. Gabriel. What is the meaning of Gabriel’s double-sided card? (p. 269). 6. What is the meaning of this encounter? (p.269-271) 7. Thought Woman meets Robinson Crusoe. How is the culture clash exposed in this episode? (pp. 293-5).

  10. Clash of Mythologies 8. Old Woman meets Young Man Walking On Water. How do they interact? (p.350) 9. Old Woman meets “Nasty” Bampo. Does this encounter follow the general pattern of the three previous stories? In what way? (p.392-394) 10. How does Coyote react to the stories?

  11. Binary opposites of Western civilization undermined • Man/woman • Human/animal • Fantasy/reality • Truth/fiction • Past/present • Cycles instead of linear development: the novel is cyclical, reflecting the aboriginal vision. “The circle was tightly formed now” (388).

  12. Defamiliarization Technique • Defamiliarization “The artistic technique of forcing the audience to see common things in an unfamiliar or strange way, in order to enhance perception of the familiar.”Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/defamiliarization#ixzz1IlDeZiYD

  13. Type of Narrative • Interpolated narrative A longer narrative containing narrative interruptions, such as Coyote’s remarks or dialogues of the story-tellers in Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.

  14. The Cause of the Downfall • Hubris (Greek for “insolence”). A character’s tragic flaw, his or her excessive self-confidence and pride, that leads to a reversal of fortune.

  15. Western Movies: Stereotypes • Indians are “wild,” “ferocious,” “irrational.” • They always lose to the “civilized” “good guys”. • Names of American tourists in the episode at Latisha’s café are taken from a Western movie. • A list of stereotypes p.393.

  16. Western Movies John Wayne Stolen Women General Custer’s last stand Stagecoach chase How do the Old Indians fix the movies?

  17. Searching for Identity • All characters come together at Lionel’s birthday • They all come to the Sun Dance (except Charlie – why?). • Lionel’s (John Wayne’s) fringed jacket gets more uncomfortable – when and why? Who else is associated with the jacket in the novel? • Eli joins the dance

  18. Characters’ Meanings • Norma • Alberta • Latisha • Lionel • Charlie • Eli

  19. The Ending • What is the meaning of the rain? What events does it cause? • How do you interpret the ending of the novel? • How does it feel to see the sacred cultural myths being ridiculed?

  20. The Meaning of Grand Finale • The three cars (Pinto, Nissan, Karmann-Ghia) correspond to the ships of Columbus (Pinta, Niña, Santa-Maria). • The water runs free – the grass will be green again. • The trees necessary for the Sun Dance rituals will survive. • Lionel and Alberta connect to the community, land, tradition.

  21. Post-modernself-reflexiveness Self-awareness of the novel: the text metapoetically discusses itself. Note pp. 234 and 352. Palimpsest (“scraped clean and used again”) type of postmodern writing: re-writing existing myths and books. Re-writing history: the Indians are not kept in Fort Marion, they escape every time. At the end, they escape by walking on water. The destructive earthquake provides a new beginning.

  22. Spirit of Haida Gwaii in the Canadian Museum of Civilization

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