Resistance and Reality: How Flashbacks in Monkey Beach Disrupt Bildungsroman Khadija Alam
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ildungsroman is a traditionally German form of storytelling, but Eden Robinson uses it to tell an Indigenous story in a way that pushes back against the European nature of the genre. Bildungsroman is a novel of formation; it chronicles the protagonist’s growth from childhood to maturity as they embark on a journey that culminates in the recognition of their place in the world once they become cultivated (Edens). In Monkey Beach, Robinson uses flashbacks as a tool to disrupt these three key elements of traditional bildungsroman, and this allows readers to confront important aspects of Indigenous youth’s contemporary experiences that exist outside of the world of the novel. Firstly, the flashbacks disrupt the notion of chronicling the protagonist’s growth in a linear manner. This results in the story being presented out of chronological order through the depiction of Lisa piecing together fragments of her childhood. Secondly, the notion of finding one’s place in the world is disrupted. The flashbacks result in Lisa being situated between the past and the present throughout the novel, and this culminates in her identity being split between two worlds at the end. Finally, the flashbacks disrupt the notion that Indigenous characters cannot become cultivated. According to traditional bildungsroman, Lisa would not be able to become cultivated because much of Haisla culture has been lost, but the flashbacks depict how she remembers and passes on the aspects of her culture she did learn. By using a form that the Western audience is familiar with, Robinson effectively presents an Indigenous story to that audience—but disrupting key elements of bildungsroman gives her the agency to tell the story without compromising the contemporary Indigenous experience. The first key element of bildungsroman is that the protagonist’s growth is chronicled in a linear manner; from childhood to maturity. Lisa’s flashbacks disrupt this notion because they result in the story being presented out of chronological order which implies that Lisa cannot grow up in a linear manner. One flashback depicts Lisa not knowing the detrimental impacts of the residential school system. When her older cousin tells her that their grandmother sent their aunt and uncle to residential school, Lisa replies, “And?” (Robinson 59). The next time present-day Lisa’s voice is depicted seems to be in response to this particular flashback: “Realize that the plumpest berries are over the graves” (82). This sentiment, through its alignment of something good (plump berries) with something bad (graves), seems to be present-day Lisa’s realization that she was only able to live a relatively sheltered childhood because the horrors of residential schools were buried, so to speak. In traditional bildungsroman, the learning experiences of the protagonist’s childhood would result in their maturity, allowing the story to be presented chronologically. However, in Monkey Beach, Lisa is only able to understand certain childhood experiences after and because she had matured.
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