Resistance and Reality: How Flashbacks in Monkey Beach Disrupt Bildungsroman

Khadija Alam

Bildungsroman 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.

Another convention of bildungsroman is that the character’s journey ends with them finding their place in the world. The flashbacks in Monkey Beach disrupt this notion because they situate Lisa between two worlds throughout the novel, which directly foreshadows the end. On the last page of the novel, Lisa says, “[W]hen I close my eyes I can still see the pale after-image of Jimmy… In the distance, I hear the sound of a speedboat” (374). The sound of the speedboat is a motif that Lisa hears when she is in the land of the living, whereas Jimmy is in the land of the dead. Therefore, Lisa is unable to find her place in the world at the end of the novel because she ends up in a liminal space between two worlds. Robinson prepares the audience for this ending by structuring the novel through flashbacks. Because Monkey Beach is told through constant switches between the past and the present, Lisa is situated between these two worlds throughout the entirety of the novel. This indicates that she was destined to end up between two worlds, making her different from traditional bildungsroman protagonists.

The final element in the definition of bildungsroman is that the protagonist must become cultivated. However, Lisa would not be able to become fully cultivated according to traditional bildungsroman due to the colonial erasure of Haisla culture. This notion is disrupted because many of her flashbacks result in her remembering and passing on the few aspects of her culture that she did learn. For example, a flashback to a lesson given by her grandmother leads Lisa to think about the etymology of her mother tongue; “The actual word for the Haisla language is Xa’islak’ala, to talk in the manner of Xa’isla. To say Xa’isla, touch your throat. Say the German ‘ach’” (193). In this case, the flashback is used as an especially important tool because it creates an opportunity for the audience to be directly affected by the text. The flashback consists of Lisa’s grandmother educating her, and it results in Lisa educating the audience. It is important to note the switch to the imperative mood in the quotation; this indicates that Lisa is addressing the audience. She is not just remembering her culture, but she is passing it on to more people—and not just Indigenous peoples. Lisa specifically makes the language accessible to Europeans by equating Haisla sounds with ones that are more familiar to them. And in specifically equating a Haisla sound with a German one, Lisa does at the narrative level what Robinson does at the structural level—taking German conventions and making them Indigenous.

A latent function of disrupting conventions of bildungsroman to tell an Indigenous story is that it leaves room for the non-Indigenous reader to confront aspects of Indigenous youth’s experiences that exist outside of the world of the novel.

The non-linear storytelling, made possible by the flashbacks, depicts Lisa’s task of uncovering her history, which mirrors the contemporary Indigenous experience of understanding the past by piecing it together. Due to genocidal systems like the residential school system—which were sites of physical, psychological, and epistemological violence against Indigenous peoples—the histories of many Indigenous nations were buried as a result of forced assimilation into Euro-Canadian society. Indigenous youth cannot simply open up a history textbook to learn about their peoples’ past. Monkey Beach’s erratic shifts in time allow the readers to get a glimpse of the hardships associated with having to uncover one’s history.

Lisa’s position of switching between the past and present throughout the novel also points to a stereotype about Indigenous peoples that occurs in Canadian literature. Margery Fee, an English professor at the University of British Columbia, writes about how Indigenous characters have often been reduced to mystical figures in Canadian literature, citing examples from the fiction of Margaret Atwood to Leonard Cohen (16). They’re often a figure that allows the white, urban protagonist to nostalgically experience nature, and then when they’re ready, to return to the present-day world of Western civilization: Indigenous peoples “come to represent what is past, lost, almost forgotten” (25). As such, there seems to be this dynamic between the settler-colonial impulse to “civilize” and “Westernize” Indigenous populations, but at the same time, to think of them as forever stuck in time. Robison, as an author living in the nation-state of Canada, might be aware of these stereotypes and how artistic representation can affect actual lives. Thus, Lisa’s liminal identity at the end of the novel might indicate that the worlds of the past and the present are not mutually exclusive, as the aforementioned stereotype suggests.

Teaching the audience about Haisla culture is a reflection of the contemporary Indigenous experience of trying to keep one’s culture alive. Indigenous youth must work against years of colonial erasure of their heritage and against forces of assimilation in modern society as well. Robinson’s novel depicts one possible to fight against erasure: by educating people who are unfamiliar with Indigenous cultures through media that can reach them.

In conclusion, the flashbacks in Monkey Beach serve the important purpose of disrupting traditional bildungsroman and depicting key aspects of the contemporary Indigenous experience. Firstly, the story is presented out of chronological order. This disrupts the notion of chronicling the protagonist’s growth step-by-step because Lisa is only able to understand her childhood experiences once she has already matured, so she cannot grow up like traditional bildungsroman characters. Secondly, Lisa is situated between two worlds throughout the novel (past and present or living and dead). This disrupts the notion of finding one’s place in the world because it indicates that Lisa was destined to end up somewhere between the land of the living and the land of the dead since the flashbacks kept her in a liminal space throughout the novel. Finally, Lisa is depicted remembering and passing on aspects of Haisla culture. This disrupts the notion that Indigenous characters cannot become cultivated because Lisa remembers the etymology of the Haisla language and even teaches it to the Western audience in an accessible way. By changing these elements of bildungsroman, Robinson depicts Indigenous youth’s experiences of piecing together the past through fragments, reconciling two different cultures, and trying to keep one’s culture alive.

The most famous bildungsroman stories centre around Western protagonists, but Robinson is able to help readers understand what living in the modern world is like for many Indigenous youth by inserting Indigenous characters into a genre that the Western audience is well-acquainted with. Robinson has taken something European and has made it Indigenous. She has undermined the historical and colonial power structure that has haunted Indigenous peoples for centuries, and she has paved a path towards a future where Indigenous stories can be understood and enjoyed by everyone.

Works Cited

Edens, Kathy. “Bildungsroman: What the Heck is That?” ProWritingAid, 29 January 2019, https://prowritingaid.com/art/833/bildungsroman%3A-what-the-heck-is-that.aspx. Ac cessed 10 March 2020.

Fee, Margery. “Romantic Nationalism and the Image of Native People in Contemporary English- Canadian Literature.” B. ECW, 1987. Faculty Research and Publications, DOI:10.14288/1.0074530. Accessed 13 March 2021.

Robinson, Eden. Monkey Beach. Vintage Canada, 2001.

Resistance and Reality: How Flashbacks in Monkey Beach Disrupt Bildungsroman