IMMIGRANT NARRATIVES IN CANADA: THE IMPORTANCE OF STORYTELLING
IMMIGRANT NARRATIVES IN CANADA: THE IMPORTANCE OF STORYTELLING

Summary/Abstract: The current paper tackles the multifaceted aspects of the Canadian immigrant experience as rendered in storytelling. The paper attempts to underline the importance of storytelling in forging the immigrant's hybrid identity, while also illustrating how immigrant narratives contribute to the foundational fictions (Homi Bhabha) of Canada as a nation. The paper draws parallels between recent immigrant accounts and the chronicles of Canada's early settlers and natives. Canada's history reveals that the immigrant or the ,,alien" is at home in a country that for a long time felt marginalized and exiled, considering itself a simple mediator (Margaret Atwood) between greater powers. Thus, we may speak of two peripheries meeting and enhancing each other. In order to make its case, the paper close-reads poems and short-stories from three lesser known authors, namely, Andrew Suknaski, J. J. Steinfeld, and Kristjana Gunnars.

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