Ethnic Folklore
I’ve mentioned that
myths, legends and folklore have their origins in oral storytelling. As
such, it was common for stories to travel, and for the teller to revise
the story in the telling. Oral storytelling gave the teller the
discretion to emphasize certain parts of the story, or to make other
changes based on the audience and purpose of the story. Similarly, with
our multicultural society, new Canadians have brought the stories of
their home countries to share with their new country and they “have
become part of our Canadian landscape” (Sayed, 2011, n.p.).
Jan Andrews has another collection of stories called “Out of the Everywhere: New Tales for Canada (2000). She gathered tales from cultural communities represented in Canada and “reset the stories in our own landscape” (Foreword). For me, these stories feel Canadian because of this. While the stories themselves were unfamiliar to me, the woods, oceans, weather, and animals in them are a reflection of Canada. The heritage of the story is always acknowledged. For example, "Little Daughter of the Snow" begins "There once was an old man and an old woman. They had come from Russia soon after they were married, when they were just a young couple" (Andrews, 2000, p. 59). This story goes on to feature the woods, "fat, wet flakes of snow" (p. 59), and a bear, a coyote and a fox, firmly planting the retelling in Canada.
Other imported ethnic stories can be found in “World on a Maple Leaf: A Treasury of Canadian Multicultural Folktales”, edited by Asma Sayed and Nayanika Kumar. From a personal perspective, since the stories are often set in another country, it is hard for me to consider them Canadian. For example, while I enjoyed the Anansi tales from Africa, two of which are shared in "World on a Maple Leaf", they are part of the Ashanti culture, which is acknowledged in the author's notes. Unlike Andrews' collection, there has been no effort to reflect Canada.
Sharing stories from other cultures is valuable. It can promote respect and foster understanding in our multicultural landscape, but I don't think the tales of a culture become Canadian because the tellers have immigrated to Canada. Stories have travelled around the world for centuries, growing, changing, and adapting along the way. It is easy to see this with the Jack tales of Newfoundland and the Ti-Jean tales of French-Canada. Over time, these tales have become reflective of Canadian culture. Margaret Read MacDonald (1993) points out “Our world is as rich as it is because we have shared our stories across cultures, and with them our hopes, our beliefs, and our way of seeing” (p. 92). However, we can't lay claim to the stories of another culture. Carpenter (1985) argues that the Canadian majority takes a pragmatic attitude to minority groups, and sees “their traditions useful to the majority, especially for the identification and display of Canadian culture” (p. 353). Sharing stories helps us learn about one another but just as with the sacred stories of the First Nations and Inuit, I think we need to be cautious about cultural appropriation.
Jan Andrews has another collection of stories called “Out of the Everywhere: New Tales for Canada (2000). She gathered tales from cultural communities represented in Canada and “reset the stories in our own landscape” (Foreword). For me, these stories feel Canadian because of this. While the stories themselves were unfamiliar to me, the woods, oceans, weather, and animals in them are a reflection of Canada. The heritage of the story is always acknowledged. For example, "Little Daughter of the Snow" begins "There once was an old man and an old woman. They had come from Russia soon after they were married, when they were just a young couple" (Andrews, 2000, p. 59). This story goes on to feature the woods, "fat, wet flakes of snow" (p. 59), and a bear, a coyote and a fox, firmly planting the retelling in Canada.
Other imported ethnic stories can be found in “World on a Maple Leaf: A Treasury of Canadian Multicultural Folktales”, edited by Asma Sayed and Nayanika Kumar. From a personal perspective, since the stories are often set in another country, it is hard for me to consider them Canadian. For example, while I enjoyed the Anansi tales from Africa, two of which are shared in "World on a Maple Leaf", they are part of the Ashanti culture, which is acknowledged in the author's notes. Unlike Andrews' collection, there has been no effort to reflect Canada.
Sharing stories from other cultures is valuable. It can promote respect and foster understanding in our multicultural landscape, but I don't think the tales of a culture become Canadian because the tellers have immigrated to Canada. Stories have travelled around the world for centuries, growing, changing, and adapting along the way. It is easy to see this with the Jack tales of Newfoundland and the Ti-Jean tales of French-Canada. Over time, these tales have become reflective of Canadian culture. Margaret Read MacDonald (1993) points out “Our world is as rich as it is because we have shared our stories across cultures, and with them our hopes, our beliefs, and our way of seeing” (p. 92). However, we can't lay claim to the stories of another culture. Carpenter (1985) argues that the Canadian majority takes a pragmatic attitude to minority groups, and sees “their traditions useful to the majority, especially for the identification and display of Canadian culture” (p. 353). Sharing stories helps us learn about one another but just as with the sacred stories of the First Nations and Inuit, I think we need to be cautious about cultural appropriation.