Comparative Essay: Anna Historic and Ravensong
Comparative Essay: Ana Historic by Daphne Marlatt and Ravensong by Lee Maracle
April 14st 2010
Nicole Leclerc
3012368
Women Studies
Cy-Thea Sand
Word Count: 2,240
Format: MLA
Ana Historic is a poetic novel about a woman named Annie who discovers Mrs.Richards, a woman of no history, in Vancouver’s civic archives. Annie becomes obsessed with the possibilities of Mrs. Richards’ life. The novel is written by Daphne Marlatt, a Canadian poet. Ravensong is a fictional novel about a seventeen year-old native girl who tries to bridge the gap between the traditional ways of her Native village and white society’s invasive new values. Ravensong is written by Lee Maracle, a First Nations writer and poet. Both of these novels have brought forth important issues pertaining to Women’s and Gender Studies such as colonialism, sexuality, fear of violence, and lesbianism. This paper will focus on the topic of sexuality and colonialism.
These two novels have further educated me on many things. For example, after reading Ana Historic, I discovered that there are various narrative forms and styles other than traditional European models. Daphne Marlatt uses writing styles such as écriture feminine; in which feminist writers “try to use their own bodies as a source for writing” (Sand 10) and gynesis, which is an “aesthetic strategy which puts gender, sexuality and maternity into public discourse” (Sand 10). I also learned how femininity is constructed in a white middle class environment through what is considered appropriate conduct for a woman (Sand 10). After reading Ravensong, I discovered that in traditional aboriginal culture, men never entered the house of single women without a man being present (Maracle 103). This novel has also taught me about the important role of Raven, the trickster who is used to dissolve the boundaries between Native and white culture (Sand 20).
The novels are very different in terms of narrative styles, point-of-views, time periods, and
April 14st 2010
Nicole Leclerc
3012368
Women Studies
Cy-Thea Sand
Word Count: 2,240
Format: MLA
Ana Historic is a poetic novel about a woman named Annie who discovers Mrs.Richards, a woman of no history, in Vancouver’s civic archives. Annie becomes obsessed with the possibilities of Mrs. Richards’ life. The novel is written by Daphne Marlatt, a Canadian poet. Ravensong is a fictional novel about a seventeen year-old native girl who tries to bridge the gap between the traditional ways of her Native village and white society’s invasive new values. Ravensong is written by Lee Maracle, a First Nations writer and poet. Both of these novels have brought forth important issues pertaining to Women’s and Gender Studies such as colonialism, sexuality, fear of violence, and lesbianism. This paper will focus on the topic of sexuality and colonialism.
These two novels have further educated me on many things. For example, after reading Ana Historic, I discovered that there are various narrative forms and styles other than traditional European models. Daphne Marlatt uses writing styles such as écriture feminine; in which feminist writers “try to use their own bodies as a source for writing” (Sand 10) and gynesis, which is an “aesthetic strategy which puts gender, sexuality and maternity into public discourse” (Sand 10). I also learned how femininity is constructed in a white middle class environment through what is considered appropriate conduct for a woman (Sand 10). After reading Ravensong, I discovered that in traditional aboriginal culture, men never entered the house of single women without a man being present (Maracle 103). This novel has also taught me about the important role of Raven, the trickster who is used to dissolve the boundaries between Native and white culture (Sand 20).
The novels are very different in terms of narrative styles, point-of-views, time periods, and
Cited: Anderson, Kim. “The Construction of A Negative Identity.” A Recognition of Being: Reconstructing Native Womanhood. Toronto: Second Story Press, 2000. Deutsch, Rachel. Rebelling against discourses of denial and destruction: Mainstream representations of Aboriginal women and violence; resistance through the art of Rebecca Belmore and Shelley Niro. MA thesis. University of Toronto, 2008. Print. Maracle, Lee. Ravensong. Vancouver, BC: Press Gang Publishers, 1993. Print. Marlatt, Daphne. Ana Historic. Toronto: House of Anansi Press Inc. 2004. Print. Patel, Kirit. “8: Impacts of Imperialism and Colonialism in the South” University of Winnipeg, October 29, 2009. Rosenthal, Caroline. Narrative Deconstructions of Gender in Works by Audrey Tomas, Daphne Marlatt, and Louise Erdrich. Rochester NY: Camden House, 2003. Print. Sand, Cy-Thea. “10: Ana Historic 1.ppt” University of Winnipeg, November 12, 2009. Sand, Cy-Thea. “20: Ravensong.ppt” University of Winnipeg, February 25, 2010. Sand, Cy-Thea. “18: Sexuality.ppt” University of Winnipeg, February 4, 2010.