从《皮草女王之吻》看北美印第安寄宿制学校对印第安人的同化教育

The Assimilative Education of North American Indians in Residential Schools as Seen in Kiss of the Fur Queen

本文结合北美印第安寄宿制学校的背景,分析了加拿大印第安作家汤姆森·海威的长篇自传小说《皮草女王之吻》中寄宿制学校的同化教育对印第安人的影响。小说中,主人公杰里迈亚和加布里埃尔兄弟俩从小被送到寄宿制学校生活,在其中遭受到的悲惨经历对他们之后一生的命运发展影响深远。寄宿制学校的同化教育对印第安文化造成巨大伤害,损害了印第安学生的身心健康,并抑制了他们的个人潜能,更给印第安人带来了普遍的身份认同危机。小说最后的悲剧结尾也昭示着,一味地实施同化教育,而不顾印第安人的传统文化,只会给印第安人带来更多的苦难。

This paper analyzes the influence of the assimilative education at Indian residential schools on Indians in Tomson Highway＇ s autobiographical novel Kiss of the Fur Queen with the historical background of the Indian residential schools in North America. In the novel, the two protagonists, Jeremiah and Gabriel, are sent to the Indian residential school since childhood. Their miserable experience there deeply affects their lives. The assimilative education at Indian residential schools has done tremendous damage to the Indian culture and the mental and physical health of the Indian students. Besides, it has restrained the potential of the Indian students and caused general identity crisis in theIndians. The tragic ending of the novel also indicates that the blind adoption of assimilative education regardless of the traditional culture of the Indians is bound to bring more misery to the Indians.