Representations of the Oil Industry in Canadian Petro-Literature
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A Greed to Which We Agreed? Representations of the Oil Industry in Canadian Petro-Literature Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades des Instituts für Anglistik der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz vorgelegt von Mag. Melanie Braunecker Betreuerin: Ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. phil. Maria Löschnigg Graz, 2020 Acknowledgement I would like to express my special appreciation and thanks to my supervisor Professor Dr. Maria Löschnigg for her tremendous support in all stages of my project. Her invaluable assistance and highly motivating comments helped me to realize this project while also allowing me to grow as a scholar. I would also like to thank all the people whose assistance was a milestone in the completion of this project. In particular, I wish to acknowledge the support of my family and friends. They kept me going on and never stopped believing in me. My research and my learning process would never have been possible without the unconditional support of strangers who became friends during my research stay in Fort McMurray and Fort McKay. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Bori, who went out of his way to enable my research on site. I am deeply grateful to Jean, who has been a great source of inspiration, and every other member of the Fort McKay First Nation for unbiasedly accepting me in their community and homes, for sharing their stories and answering my numerous questions. I am indebted to Lara for her warm encouragement and her effort to open the doors in Fort McMurray, both literally and metaphorically speaking. Special thanks also go to Leo whose critical and insightful comments on my project have opened new possibilities of thinking. I also wish to thank Sylvia and Mike, for their constructive feedback and years of transatlantic friendship. For the planetary tragedy plays on, and it is well into its third act. As the principle players strut and fret, the land, the water, the air, the entire non-human host, are also taking their turns, and they can no longer be mistaken for mere stage dressings or props in the human pageant. We see them now as the primary personae they have always been, made all the more poignant because their appearance at center stage is underscored by their imminent parture out the wings. That exeunt will bring the final curtain on what we’d foolishly thought was our production. (William Major and Andrew McMurry 2012: “Introduction: The Function of Ecocriticism; or, Ecocriticism, What Is It Good For?”) The most appealing feature of the oil sands was the fact that they were there to be taken. Instead of cruising the world in search of oil hidden beneath ground and drilling ten dry wells for every one that proved successful, why not focus on the largest known source of oil? (Rick George, Former President of Suncor Energy Inc., In: Beautiful Destruction 2014: 67) Current industrialization of our traditional territories has led to the cumulative removal of lands, wildlife and fish habitat, as well as the destruction of ecological, aesthetic and sensory systems. This reality for our people is not only unacceptable but unconstitutional and illegal. (Chief Allan Adam, Chief of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in: Beautiful Destruction 2014: 15) We are a nation of wind and waves and tides, and we must begin to tap into that potential. We cannot rely solely on fossil fuels and non-renewable fuel sources until it is too late, or we will miss the critical changes that are the building blocks of our children’s opportunity. (Megan Leslie, in: Beautiful Destruction 2014: 157) The choice between pipelines and wind turbines is a false one. We need both to reach our goal. (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Huffington Post) Table of Contents 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Background Information on the Alberta Oil/Tar Sands ................................................................. 13 3. Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................................. 22 3.1. Ecocriticism and the Need for Ecological Genres ............................................................. 22 3.2. Petrocultures and Petroliterature ....................................................................................... 30 4. Generic Manifestations of Canadian Petro-Literature ................................................................... 37 4.1. Ecopoetry ............................................................................................................................... 37 4.1.1.“Tar Swan” (2014) by David Martin ............................................................................... 40 4.1.2. “In the Tar Sands, Going Down” (2009) by Mari-Lou Rowley ..................................... 49 4.1.3. “Reading Wordsworth in the Tar Sands” (2015) by Stephen S. Collis ........................... 63 4.1.4. “J28” (2013) by Rita Wong ............................................................................................ 74 4.1.5. “Night gift” (2015) by Rita Wong .................................................................................. 81 4.1.6. The Thematic and Aesthetic Impact of Canadian Petro-Poetry – A Résumé ................. 85 4.2. Short Fiction ........................................................................................................................... 89 4.2.1. “An Athabasca Story” (2012) by Warren Cariou............................................................ 94 4.2.2. “The Angel of the Tar Sands” (1982) by Rudy Wiebe ................................................. 105 4.2.3. “Leo: A Fairytale” (2011) by Robi Smith ..................................................................... 112 4.2.4 The Thematic and Aesthetic Impact of Petro-Short Fiction – A Résumé ...................... 115 4.3. Petro-Novels ......................................................................................................................... 118 4.3.1. Long Change (2015) by Don Gillmor .......................................................................... 121 4.3.2. The Bears (2012) by Katie Welch ................................................................................ 132 4.3.3. Hawk (2016) by Jennifer Dance ................................................................................... 145 4.3.4. The Thematic and Aesthetic Impact of Canadian Petro-Novels – A Résumé .............. 160 4.4. Drama ................................................................................................................................... 166 4.4.1. Hardhats and Stolen Hearts: A Tar Sands Myth (1978) by Gordon Pengilly and Leslie Sanders.................................................................................................................................... 171 4.4.2. Highway 63 – The Fort Mac Show (2009) by Architect Theatre ................................. 181 4.4.3. Fort Mac (2011) by Mark Prescott ............................................................................... 189 4.4.4. The Thematic and Aesthetic Impact of Canadian Petro-Drama – A Résumé ............... 203 5. Other Art Forms ........................................................................................................................... 207 5.1. Petrography and Documentary Films ................................................................................... 207 5.2. Photography ......................................................................................................................... 208 5.3. Puppet Show Theatre ............................................................................................................ 209 5.4. Hybrid Forms of Poetry and Graphic Journalism ................................................................ 210 5.5. Comic Journalism ................................................................................................................. 212 6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 215 7. Bibliography................................................................................................................................. 219 1. Introduction When I started my research on contemporary Canadian petrofiction, I was not aware that my topic of choice would be so controversial. The more immersed I got into the topic the stronger my desire became to dive into the highly complex issue of Alberta’s oil industry, its background, benefits and downsides. In addition, my interest was sparked, not least due to the fact that this giant project is hardly known in Austria. Moreover, I was curious to discover literature’s role and importance in this red-hot discussion. In the course of my research, I quickly realized that analyzing literature’s position in the oil/tar sands discussion of Northern Alberta would not be an easy task and that my ‘interference’ might get me into trouble: whereas those who work for the oil industry mainly focus on the positive aspects of the development (for example reliable jobs, relatively strict environmental standards, economic growth, the building of a community, etc.), there are numerous voices (for example First Nations People or environmentalists) who strongly oppose the oil/tar sands industry because of its concomitant environmental impact (for example its incompatibility with Native lifestyle, water pollution,