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please note:

this is a mixture of my lazy academic reviews and personal moments as a mama going through academia, and it is all my own opinion, and has absolutely no affiliation with anybody else

writings & ramblings

Stories of the Road Allowance – Maria Campbell

Main things I noticed: the language – Red English/Broken English/Spoken Words. While I loved the affect of reading them outlaid, reading them slowed down my comprehension, so it was a good exercise in how a text is written when it’s meant to be read.

I liked the story about “Good Dog Bob” (18) as it’s a story that I hear often, in various forms. I like how comedy can survive multiple versions, and it’s interning to pick apart. Th fact that a man who was supposed to be sleeping with a married woman, and how he is delegated to the dog’s position, and how he must humble himself to stay hidden, making ourself ask who is the real fool here – the man under the bed, or the man who thinks it’s an actual dog? It’s interesting to note that there isn’t much spoken on the woman, aside from the note that she was the one woo-ing Bob, which is actually kind of refreshing. Refreshing as in there is no slut/sex-shaming that I can see, aside from the overall moral of don’t sleep with married people, as you become the fool, etc.

I also took a good look at “Rou Garous” (34). My mom is Metis from Batoche, and she also has versions of stories that involve a Lou Garous, as she calls it. I liked the story because it shows the narrative storytelling structure – the main theme kept branch off into smaller story structures. I like this because of his it shows the hidden and not-so-hidden-conflicts that Metis people had with the Church and the religion. I was surprised that the woman was the Rou Garous, but maybe I shouldn’t have been. I also like how the narrator doesn’t say what she believes, so much as points out the fact that she is conflicted – is this a belief that come out of the Priest wanting everyone to be scared of the dark/mystery/unknown and convert, or does this come old legends similar to the Indigenous people turning to animals.


buy the book: Stories of the Road Allowance People 

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