janice kulyk keefer

8/11/2019 Janice Kulyk Keefer

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Janice Kulyk Keefer b.1952

TORONTO, ONTARIO

No writer, no matter how passionately she identifies with a particular community,

ethnic or otherwise, can transparently and comprehensively project the views and voices

of that community in her writingIt is the task of the writer to situate herself off-centre

from her own well as communicate what she knows of it, says Janice ulyk eefer! "nd

this is the position from which she writes, a position of am#ivalence and, partly, the result

of her up#ringing as a hyphenated $anadian, the child of immigrants!

Nici o scriitoare, nepunnd la socoteal pasiunea cu care se identific !n

cadrul unei anu"ite co"unit#i, etnice sau de alt natur, nu !$i poate proiecta !ntr%

un "od clar $i cinstit "entalit#ile $i &ocile respecti&ei co"unit#i !n opera sa' (stede datoria scriitoarei s se situe)e oarecu" !n afara propriei sale co"unit#i pentru

a putea fi capa*il s co"unice $i s critice !n acela$i ti"p tot ceea ce $tie despre ea

+co"unitatea, este de prere Janice Kulyk Keefer' Aceasta este po)i#ia de pe care

scrie, una de a"*i&alen# $i, !ntr%o "ic "sur, re)ultatul educa#iei-cre$terii ei

ase"enea unui strin naturali)at canadian-cu cet#enie canadian, copilul

i"i.ran#ilor'

%orn in &oronto, she grew up with the fact that 'her( mothers e)perience as an

immigrant, whose family had emigrated from a village in *oland that is now part of

+kraine, was a very painful one, for psychological as well as economic reasons! "s a

young woman, ulyk eefer was convinced that only people with names like mith or

ac*herson could #e pu#lished and read in this country.a #elief that led me, as she

says, to think and write, for the most part, in what I understood to #e the manner of a

mith or ac*herson! &he we#s of otherness within which she moved as a child

continue to haunt her! he has attri#uted part of the reason she wanted to study and live

outside of $anada to her am#ivalent feelings of #eing seen as ethnic!

Nscut !n Toronto, ea a crescut cu ideea c e/perien#a "a"ei ca i"i.rant, a

crei fa"ilii a e"i.rat dintr%un sat polone), !n pre)ent o parte a 0crainei, a fost una

foarte dureroas, att din punct de &edere-pe plan psiolo.ic, ct $i financiar' a

tnr fe"eie, Janice Kulyk Keefer a fost con&ins de faptul c doar persoane cu

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nu"e ca 3"it sau 4acerson puteau fi pu*licate $i citite !n aceast #ar 6 o

prere-con&in.ere care "%a deter"inat, a$a cu" ea !ns$i declar, s .ndesc $i s

scriu, !n cea "ai "are parte, !n ce a" !n#eles a fi "aniera unui 3"it sau

4acerson' 7e.turile diferen#elor !n interiorul crora se "i$ca ase"enea unui

copil continu s o *ntuie' (a $i%a "oti&at par#ial ale.erea fcut pentru care a

dorit s studie)e $i s triasc !n afara .rani#elor anadei prin senti"entelecontradictorii care o !ncercau ca fiind perceput ca etnic'

0ollowing her %" in 1nglish from the +niversity of &oronto 2/3456, and with a

$ommonwealth cholarship, she studied at the +niversity of usse) where she earned an

" and a *h7 in 1nglish! 8er determination to #ecome a writer made her aware of the

kind of foreigner she had #ecome to her own literary tradition9 I was discouraged at the

university 'in $anada( from reading $anadian writing, and encouraged to read "merican

or %ritish! "nd so I was really :uite patroni;ing in my attitude toward my own culture!A ur"at studiile de licen# !n en.le) ale 0ni&ersit#ii din Toronto 819:;, $i

cu o *urs o""on


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sensi#ility, too, focuses on figures and issues of am#ivalence as is evident in Under

Eastern Eyes: A Critical Reading of Canadian ariti!e "iction 2/3


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such writers as Fen %egamudrA, is transculturalism, a concept that #rings out the

dynamic potential of cultural diversity, the possi#ility of e)change and change among and

with different ethnocultural groups!

Ln ciuda !"potri&irii sale !n fa#a inutilit#ii eticetei etnicit#ii, sau poate

datorit acesteia, Kulyk Keefer a luat parte la de)*ateri despre "ulticulturalis" la

!nceputul anilor 9H' Recla"nd folosirea ter"enului de "ulticultural8is"; atuncicnd se &or*e$te despre un .rup de persoane, sau un scriitor, ea pledea) pentru

ne&oia de a an.aa un nou ter"en 8care; s dese"ne)e-8de;nu"easc acele scrieri

literare !n care #ara sau cultura ancestral a unui scriitor par la fel de i"portante ca

#ara !n care el sau ea trie$te de fapt' Ter"enul pe care ea !l propune, unul preferat

$i de scriitori ca Men Fe.a"udr1, este transculturalis", un concept care e&iden#ia)

poten#ialul dina"ic al di&ersit#ii culturale, posi*ilitatea de sci"* $i !nlocuire

printre $i cu 8autorul; diferitelor-alturi de .rupuri etnoculturale'Ginner of &he alahat ?ong *oem *ri;e, and of two National aga;ine "ward

0irst *ri;es 2/33B, /3356, she pu#lished another poetry volume, arrying the &ea2/33

janice kulyk keefer

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