When the Other is Me: Native Resistance Discourse, 1850-1990

by Emma LaRocque

In this long-awaited book from one of the most recognized and respected scholars in Native Studies today, Emma LaRocque presents a powerful interdisciplinary study of the Native literary response to racist writing in the Canadian historical and literary record from 1850 to 1990. In When the Other is Me, LaRocque brings a metacritical approach to Native writing, situating it as resistance literature within and outside the postcolonial intellectual context. She outlines the overwhelming evidence of dehumanization in Canadian historical and literary writing, its effects on both popular culture and Canadian intellectual development, and Native and non-Native intellectual responses to it in light of the interlayered mix of romanticism, exaggeration of Native difference, and the continuing problem of internalization that challenges our understanding of the colonizer/colonized relationship.

232 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 2008

Reviews

[Ishita · Rating 2 out of 5]

LaRocque's writing is passionate in criticizing the highly stereotyped image of Native peoples in literature and the colonial mindset that continues on, into the present day. However, while LaRocque does produce a profound analysis of Native resistance literature, her approach is limited in that she continues to define her scholarship by Western hegemonic standards, such as her persistent use of 'postcolonial' when referring to Aboriginal peoples. Overall, an interesting read.