African American slavery and racism that black people and other ethnic minorities often had and still have to face in their every-day lives in Canada, are disabled from Canadian history and their modern representation.
When associations are made to the topic of slavery, most people do not know that slavery existed in Canada, because slave trade mostly took place in the larger Atlantic Ocean and America. Therefore it was suppressed from Canadian’s history, even if it is very much a part of it.
The novel Soucouyant by David Chariandy, published in 2007, picks out main topics as forgetting and remembering, trauma, dislocation, family but also racism as a central theme.
However, I want to emphasize on all these themes in the subsequent chapters – whereas the topic of family will be on the fringes. Also, I would like to present how racism in Canada developed and how a traumatic event is processed in one’s mind.
For the illustration of these subjects, I will use the novel Soucouyant, as well as The Hanging of Angélique – but will mostly concentrate on Soucouyant because it allows a great deal of interpretation in the context of themes as racism, memory and trauma.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Development of racial intolerance in Canada
Racial harassment and the inferiority of blacks in Soucouyant
Memory and Forgetting of forced servitude in the Caribees
Memory and Forgetting of a traumatic event in Soucouyant
Adele’s demonization
Angélique’s emancipation and Adele’s weakness
Conclusion
Bibliography
Research Objectives and Themes
This research paper examines the intersections of racism, collective memory, and trauma in the Canadian context, using David Chariandy's novel 'Soucouyant' as a primary case study. It explores how suppressed historical traumas, particularly those related to the legacy of slavery and immigrant experiences, manifest in the psychological decline and dementia of the protagonist’s mother, while contrasting these experiences with the historical figure of Marie-Joseph Angélique to illustrate different responses to systemic oppression.
- The historical development of racial intolerance and institutionalized discrimination in Canada.
- The psychological impact of acculturation trauma on immigrant identity.
- The role of folklore and mythology as metaphors for processing deep-seated shame and guilt.
- A comparative analysis of submissive trauma versus active rebellion against systemic racial injustice.
Excerpt from the Book
Racial harassment and the inferiority of blacks in Soucouyant
In Soucouyant, the narrator’s mother Adele probably migrated from Trinidad to Canada in the 1950s, after “the Immigration Act of 1952” that simplified the immigration for non-whites. A multiplicity of people from different ethnic backgrounds immigrated in the following years to cause the phenomenon of racial and cultural diversity in urban and also suburban localities in Canada. Adele’s first impressions when entering the new country were not bad at all – they were quite the contrary. “Everything seemed wonderful”, but when opening her mouth to catch a snowflake; she seems to be “disappointed at its tastelessness when it fell upon her tongue”. The unexpected bad taste of the white snowflake reflects the alienation she experiences in the new land that is so oppositional to her homeland Trinidad.
Instead of the Caribbean heat, Canada’s clime is too different, and her “trouble arriving” in Canada because of icy-storm weather indicates that she is going to have a lot of complications adapting to the new society’s culture. On her first Christmas she realizes that nothing is like home - no “parang music”, no “punch-o-crème” and no “rum punch” - and feels separated from her new society. More evidence for the “two-ness” she finds out about, is the lemon meringue pie that is acid and sweet, tart yellow and fluffy white at the same time. She has hoped to start anew, but as a West Indian immigrant it makes the impression that it is hard not to feel as a stranger in Toronto, Canada.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: This chapter outlines the research focus on trauma, memory, and racism, establishing the novel 'Soucouyant' and the historical case of 'The Hanging of Angélique' as the primary texts for exploration.
Development of racial intolerance in Canada: This section details the historical roots of Canadian racism, the suppression of slave history in the national narrative, and how media and educational systems institutionalized prejudices.
Racial harassment and the inferiority of blacks in Soucouyant: The chapter analyzes the immigrant experience of the protagonist's mother, focusing on her alienation and the subtle yet pervasive racial hostility encountered in Canada.
Memory and Forgetting of forced servitude in the Caribees: This part examines the historical context of slavery in the Caribbean, defining cultural trauma and how forced servitude shaped the collective identity and memory of enslaved populations.
Memory and Forgetting of a traumatic event in Soucouyant: This chapter explores how Adele's specific personal trauma, linked to a fire in her past, interacts with her dementia and her inability to reconcile her memories within a new cultural setting.
Adele’s demonization: This section interprets the 'Soucouyant' folklore figure as a psychological manifestation of Adele’s guilt, shame, and self-hatred stemming from her past actions.
Angélique’s emancipation and Adele’s weakness: This comparative chapter contrasts the active rebellion of Marie-Joseph Angélique against slavery with the internalised, destructive response of Adele to her trauma.
Conclusion: The final chapter summarizes how both historical and literary figures embody the consequences of systemic racism, asserting that Canada’s unacknowledged history of slavery continues to resonate in the experiences of racial minorities.
Keywords
Racism, Canada, Soucouyant, Memory, Trauma, Slavery, Dementia, Immigration, Identity, Marie-Joseph Angélique, Cultural Trauma, Folklore, Acculturation, Guilt, Shame.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental subject of this research paper?
The paper examines how historical and systemic racism in Canada intersects with individual and collective trauma, specifically focusing on the psychological impact of these forces on immigrant experiences.
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
The core themes include the formation of racial intolerance, the process of 'forgetting' as a coping mechanism, the influence of historical slave trade narratives, and the manifestation of trauma through folklore and mental illness.
What is the primary research goal or question?
The primary goal is to investigate how traumatic past events are processed or suppressed in the immigrant consciousness, specifically using the character Adele in 'Soucouyant' to understand how such traumas lead to dementia and identity fragmentation.
Which scientific methods or analytical approaches are used?
The author employs a literary and sociological approach, utilizing narrative analysis of the novel 'Soucouyant' combined with historical research into Canadian slavery and institutionalized racism to support the central arguments.
What topics are covered in the main body of the paper?
The main body covers the history of racial discrimination in Canada, the specific immigrant experience in Toronto, the concept of cultural trauma related to Caribbean slavery, and a comparative study between a fictional character and the historical figure Marie-Joseph Angélique.
Which keywords best characterize the research?
The work is defined by terms such as racism, cultural trauma, collective memory, acculturation, slavery, dementia, and identity, highlighting the intersection of literary analysis and historical trauma studies.
How does the author interpret the 'Soucouyant' figure in the novel?
The author interprets the 'Soucouyant' not as a literal demon, but as a symbolic manifestation of the mother's guilt and shame, which acts as a catalyst for her forced remembering and eventual psychological breakdown.
In what way does the paper contrast Adele with the historical figure Angélique?
The paper contrasts Adele’s internalised, destructive response to trauma (which leads to dementia) with Angélique’s external, rebellious response to slavery, using both as different modalities of navigating oppressive social structures.
- Quote paper
- Thomas Gantner (Author), 2012, Racism, Memory and Trauma in Canada and the "Soucouyant", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/300307
