First Person Plural

Aboriginal Storytelling and the Ethics of Collaborative Authorship

Author: Sophie McCall

An innovative, interdisciplinary study of the nature, significance, and impact of "told-to" narratives in debates about Indigenous voice and literary and political sovereignty.

Focusing on the 1990s, when debates over voice and representation were particularly explosive, McCall investigates a wide range of "told-to" narratives that have shaped the struggle for Aboriginal rights in Canada, and asks what is at stake in crafting a politics and ethics of collaboration.

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Summary

An innovative, interdisciplinary study of the nature, significance, and impact of "told-to" narratives in debates about Indigenous voice and literary and political sovereignty.

Description

In this innovative exploration, told-to narratives, or collaboratively produced texts by Aboriginal storytellers and (usually) non-Aboriginal writers, are not romanticized as unmediated translations of oral documents, nor are they dismissed as corruptions of original works. Rather, the approach emphasizes the interpenetration of authorship and collaboration. Focused on the 1990s, when debates over voice and representation were particularly explosive, this comprehensive study examines a range of told-to narratives -- ethnography, life narrative, documentary -- in conjunction with key political events that have shaped the struggle for Aboriginal rights in Canada. Emphasizing the scope rather than the limits of the told-to narrative, McCall considers how Aboriginal voices have been represented in a variety of forums such as public inquiries, commissioners' reports, and land claims cases.

A captivating inquiry, First Person Plural offers a vital, interdisciplinary discussion of how told-to narratives contribute to larger debates about Indigenous voice and literary and political sovereignty.

Awards

Short-listed for Gabrielle Roy Prize, Association for Canadian and Quebec Literatures 2012 (Canada) Short-listed for Canada Prize in the Humanities, Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences 2013 (Canada)

Critic Reviews

“Sophie McCall's splendid First Person Plural enlarges the genre of works purporting to be collaborative. Beyond writing, she includes land claims negotiations, commissioners' reports, media representations, and film. She traces the rise of Indigenous voice in Canada through the final decades of the twentieth century. Students, scholars, and anyone interested in First Nations and Native American literature will welcome this book. - Julie Cruikshank, author of Do Glaciers Listen? Local Knowledge, Colonial Encounters, and Social Imagination”

I must begin by saying that this book has had more impact on me than any other scholarly text written by a non-Aboriginal person that I have read in years…A deeply thoughtful, extensively researched text, First Person Plural brings new ways of thinking about collaborations between Aboriginal storytellers and their non-Aboriginal associates…Whenever I open the book, I find myself totally engaged, often entranced, with a point the author is making. Sometimes I want to argue with her and then, as I keep reading, I see how she has nuanced each claim she makes, twisting herself to see from varied perspectives while constantly seeking an ethical stance.

- Celia Haig-Brown, York University (Journal of the Canadian Association for the Curriculum Studies V10, N2) First Person Plural is a wide ranging, nuanced and perceptive book, one that researchers and writers will find extremely helpful in thinking through issues of collaboration. I recommend it very highly. - Elizabeth Yeoman, Memorial University (Canadian Journal of Native Studies, XXXI, 2)