This work explores how Indigenous literature, particularly "The Marrow Thieves" by Métis author Cherie Dimaline, responds to environmental destruction and climate change. Set in a dystopian near-future Canada devastated by ecological collapse, the novel follows a group of Indigenous characters fleeing from settlers who harvest their bone marrow, believed to be the cure for a mysterious illness that prevents non-Indigenous people from dreaming.
The novel critiques ongoing colonial violence and its connection to environmental exploitation, highlighting how Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by both. Through its characters and story, "The Marrow Thieves" shows the resilience of Indigenous peoples and the importance of traditional knowledge in surviving ecological crises. It challenges dominant ideas of development and progress, instead emphasizing the deep, interdependent relationship between humans and the natural world.
This analysis uses eco-criticism and postcolonial theory to explore how Dimaline's novel exposes the roots of environmental collapse in colonial history and calls for a rethinking of our relationship with the environment, one guided by Indigenous perspectives and values.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
2. LITERARY REVIEW OF THE MARROW THIEVES
3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
3.1 ECOCRITICISM AND ITS OFFSHOOTS
3.2 TRANS-CORPOREALITY
4. AN ECOCRITICAL READING OF THE MARROW THIEVES
4.1 EXPOSING THE MYTH OF DEVELOPMENT
4.2 TRANS-CORPOREALITY IN THE MARROW THIEVES
4.2.1 LAND AND WATER THAT MATTER
4.2.2 ANIMALS THAT MATTER
4.2.3 DREAMS THAT MATTER
5. DISCUSSION
6. CONCLUSION AND OUTLOOK
NOTES
WORKS CITED
GERMAN ABSTRACT
Objectives and Key Themes
This thesis examines Cherie Dimaline’s novel The Marrow Thieves through the lens of postcolonial ecocriticism and Stacy Alaimo’s concept of trans-corporeality. The primary research goal is to investigate how the novel challenges the discourse of development and how it addresses the interconnectedness of human and nonhuman bodies, ultimately highlighting the role of Indigenous perspectives in rethinking environmental crises.
- Analysis of the colonial roots of environmental exploitation and the "myth of development."
- Application of trans-corporeality to understand the material connections between human and nonhuman worlds.
- Exploration of Indigenous literary resistance to settler-colonial power structures.
- Investigation of how concepts like land, water, animals, and dreams serve as active, agential forces in the novel.
Excerpt from the Book
4.2.1 Land and Water that Matter
The Marrow Thieves’ literary representation of land and water reflects trans-corporeality, depicting nonhumans and humans as intermeshed material agents. The way water and land are described in the novel depicts them as living, breathing beings with their own consciousness. Furthermore, throughout the novel, Frenchie develops a trans-corporeal environmental ethic by learning about the significance of water and land through his Elders. For example, as Miigwans announces his first storytelling, Frenchie notices how the nonhuman world around him changes: “I watched the word Story puff over the fire and spread into a cumulative haze that smelled of ground roots and acrid burn just above our dark heads.” (Dimaline 22). The animals and woods all want to listen to what Miig has to say, the fire illuminating his face with “stage lights” (22): “The woods grew quite now; even the beetles stopped rubbing their smooth shells on softened bark, even the wind picked around the branches instead of rattling straight through” (22).
The group gathers around the fire and listens to Miig, and the nonhuman world is also entuned with their Indigenous ritual. Miig points to the ground and establishes a longstanding historical relationship to the land when he explains that the Anishinaabe people “lived on these lands for a thousand years” (23). This part of Story makes the members proud. The girls “straightened their spines and elongated their necks, their beautiful faces like flowers opening in the heat of the fire” (23). Like a flower is nourished by water, the story of the past nourishes the group. The intimate connection between Anishinaabe communities and the environment depicts Indigenous people as intimately “intermeshed with the dynamic, material world, which crosses through them, transforms them, and is transformed by them” (“Trans-corporeality” 435).
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION: Outlines the environmental impact of extractive industries and introduces the novel as a literary response to these crises, focusing on Indigenous perspectives and the research questions.
2. LITERARY REVIEW OF THE MARROW THIEVES: Provides an overview of existing scholarly work on the novel, covering themes such as kinship, water, identity, and decolonial love.
3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: Defines the postcolonial ecocritical and material perspectives used, specifically introducing the concept of trans-corporeality.
4. AN ECOCRITICAL READING OF THE MARROW THIEVES: Analyzes the novel's critique of the myth of development and explores how trans-corporeality manifests through land, water, animals, and dreams.
5. DISCUSSION: Critically reflects on the application of trans-corporeality to Indigenous texts and the potential for these concepts to reshape environmental understanding.
6. CONCLUSION AND OUTLOOK: Summarizes the findings, confirming how the novel exposes colonial violence and emphasizes the necessity of healing the earth through Indigenous knowledge.
Keywords
The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline, Ecocriticism, Postcolonialism, Trans-corporeality, Indigenous Literature, Environmental Justice, Settler Colonialism, Myth of Development, Nonhuman Agency, Anthropocentrism, Climate Change, Material Ecocriticism, Dreamlessness, Anishinaabe.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
This paper focuses on Cherie Dimaline's novel The Marrow Thieves to analyze how it challenges the discourse of development and reveals the deep-seated connections between colonialism and environmental exploitation.
What are the primary thematic fields covered?
The research covers postcolonial ecocriticism, the nonhuman turn, settler-colonial power structures, Indigenous knowledge systems, and environmental justice.
What is the central research question?
The paper asks how the novel challenges the discourse of development and in what ways the concept of trans-corporeality is used to address human/nonhuman relationships.
Which scientific methods are applied?
The author employs a postcolonial eco-critical methodology, drawing on theories from scholars like Stacy Alaimo, Graham Huggan, and Helen Tiffin to analyze literary representations of nature.
What topics are discussed in the main section?
The main section investigates the "myth of development," analyzes how nature acts as an agential force (land, water, animals), and explores the symbolic role of dreams as a site of Indigenous resistance.
What are the key terms that define this work?
Key terms include trans-corporeality, ecocriticism, settler colonialism, Indigenous survivance, nonhuman agency, and the myth of development.
How does the author interpret the role of dreams in the novel?
Dreams are interpreted as active material agents stored in the bone marrow, serving both as a resource for settlers and as a vital source of Indigenous resistance and cultural heritage.
In what way does the author relate the concept of trans-corporeality to Indigenous knowledge?
The author argues that while trans-corporeality is a Western theoretical concept, it aligns well with Indigenous worldviews that have historically recognized the interconnectedness of all life, thereby helping to bridge Western and Indigenous frameworks.
- Citation du texte
- Anonymous (Auteur), 2023, "The Ebb and Pull of the Dream". An Ecocritical Reading of Cherie Dimaline’s "The Marrow Thieves", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1601172
