Aboriginal Literature
Native traditions and history were passed down through the generations using the art of storytelling. Storytelling was not only useful for Natives in this way but became a part of the tradition and history they passed down to their children. Unlike Euro-Canadian people, Aboriginal people did not put their oral traditions into writing but have increasingly begun to do so in the present day. This may keep these traditions from dying out as many already have, but this may also destroy the showmanship and meaning of Aboriginal storytelling. This is one of the most important critical debates pertaining to Native literature; is the written word destroying the effect of Native oral tradition or is it saving it? This essay will show that translating and converting Native oral stories to text may keep them alive longer than those who tell them, but the written word will never capture the full effect of Native oral storytelling. In the past, Native people did not document their history or traditions on paper. When the Europeans came, their traditions were disregarded because of this fact. This, and the fact that oral traditions were easily lost with the death of a particular culture or language, is the reason why Natives have lost
When an oral story is written down and translated into another language, the interpretation of that story will probably become more widespread than what was originally intended. An example of this comes from a story called "Marcel's Beaver Hunt" found in Ronald Scullon's "Context of the Informant Narrative Performance" (46-66). Scullon spent time with a Chipewayan man who told him this story and he transcribed it in four different ways. Each transcription was almost completely different from the others. If there can be so many differences in the translation of a story, there would obviously be a lot of different interpretations of the story as well. The appropriate gestures and expressive pantomime with which an Indian illustrates his speech render it easy to understand.... The scene described was partly acted; the motions of the game, the stealthy approach of the hunter, the taking aim, the shot, the cry of the animal, or the noise of its dashing away, and the pursuit, were all given as the tale went on (Clark xi). Claude Melancon agrees with Foley in regards to the translation of Native stories into another language. He says: "The abstract words so readily used by non-Indians frequently do not exist in Amerindian languages, which employ description or metaphor instead" (11-12). When the bases of two languages are different, translation of one cannot capture everything that the other meant to communicate. And so, most of the text versions of Native literature in the world today do not do their oral counterparts justice. A piece of traditional orature called "Song for the Burning of the White Dog" found in the "Anthology of Native Canadian Literature" illustrates some of the downfalls of Native tradition in text even though the story does try to capture the effect its oral counterpart in a few ways. Firstly, every sentence is indented in a new paragraph as if it were meant to be read as a poem. This helps the reader to create a rhythm in their mind as to how th
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1345
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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