Performing the (Non)Human: A Tentatively Posthuman Reading of Dionne Brand’s Short Story 'Blossom'
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Tomasz_Sikora_-_Performing_the_(Non)Human.pdf (5.24 MB)
Authors
Date
2010
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Polish Association for Canadian Studies
Abstract
The article offers a reading of Dionne Brand’s short story "Blossom" through a problematization of the (liberal humanist) notion of the 'human'. The eponymous character refuses to fit into the limited categories and life-scripts prepared for her by Canada's social and institutional environment and ends up as a priestess of the goddess Oya. This, the article concludes, allows Blossom to escape the modern Western socio-political discourses of authenticized and stabilized identities based on race, gender, religion, cultural background, and Western-inflected 'humanity'.
Description
The article offers a reading of Dionne Brand’s short story "Blossom" through a problematization of the (liberal humanist) notion of the 'human'. The eponymous character refuses to fit into the limited categories and life-scripts prepared for her by Canada's social and institutional environment and ends up as a priestess of the goddess Oya. This, the article concludes, allows Blossom to escape the modern Western socio-political discourses of authenticized and stabilized identities based on race, gender, religion, cultural background, and Western-inflected 'humanity'.
Keywords
Citation
Sikora, Tomasz. "Performing the (Non)Human: A Tentatively Posthuman Reading of Dionne Brand’s Short Story 'Blossom'", TransCanadiana, Polish Journal of Canadian Studies. Tom 3 (2010): 113-123.