Maclear, Kyo

English

Tessera (E-Journal, York University)

Posting the CanadasKyoMaclearCartes postales adressees aux deux solitudesUne serie de cartes postales sont publiees dans un quotidien, sontenvoyees CL des lecteurs inconnus. Ces cartes de Kyo Mclear n'affirmentrien de positifau sujet de 1'identite nationale canadienne mais signalentplut6t l'activite artificielle grace CL laquelle un semblant d'unite est main-tenue. Envoyees par la narratrice aux differents relais de son voyage CLtravers sa memoire, ces missives rappellent quelques-unes des occasionsou elle fut temoin des tentatives d'etablir 1'idee d'une «canadiennite»: CLsept ans, pendant le cours de franr;ais, CL un poste de douane, aux chutesN iagara. Abord, non pas d'un avion de la compagnied'aviation nationale,mais d'un «avion origami», la narratrice nous donne la «preuve» que sapropre identite n'est viable que sous la forme d'un cliche.12 . TesseraCanada•••....,at e ""'_.... ,........_ ..'"-....-.e-~IWfGl_Q_Folding my way into thiscorrespondence, I tricked a cliche andcame up with an origami airpIane tolead me through. My stories I boardedgingerly on this leitmotif of travel.These small fragment capsulesilluminating the multiple places andtimes of my questioning the many waysof becominiVnot-becoming a Canadian.And you? What are your stories?Posting the Canadas . 13---------~-~;;;::;:;:::;_rIILCanadaI could say it hi-lingually at seven. Or so Ithought. until my French teacher rappedme on the head with a m/er. She taughtme that there are gendered ways of being,too.14 . TesseraCanadaBienvenue au Canada. Now that I haveswom allegiance, secured my papers, Ifrequetltly sail right by the checkpoints. Lastrime I arrived, a group had just landed fromHo Chi Minh City. 'l1le customs officiallooked askance, then trapped a youngVietnamese couple. Waving me on, heopened their luggage, lmceremoniouslysplaying their contents. He broke a ceramicvase he had discovered. Pounding andmindng the porcelain, he proceeded to crushthe earth from inside. There was notranslator to tell them tila! he thought theymigh t infect the soil.DI... _ ... ' .. ...,... _ _ "' __ C_O.lJ'II',C.,_O~_ ••••..-c""-------Posting the Canadas . 15This was 1lu border, 'until I crossedot~ ,one, I am told, swirls somewhere in the eddybetween that bank and this one. (If you peerthrollgh the rotatinK view finder in the sky toweryOIl con See the whole thing.) I returned last·alltumn with my lover. We joilled touristswrapped in bllle plastic and skimmed the falls onthe Maid of the Mist. (Over there. the tOllristSwear yellow.) We elided ollr day by watching theeveninK light show. From a tower 011 a hillnearby, coloured light disks projed ev~y h.!'eimagill4ble on the falling water. As I watched thecrimsoll arch cascllding downwards, [ stopped tothink about the legend of the 'Indian Maid',whose waterlogged deathbed we trafficked overearlier that day. As we left, we tried to conjure allthe other cruise-by stories we'd beell told. Westopped at Wendy's far a chocolate shake beforehellding to ollr motel........- ,....1·_"' 0--.."..,.... _c...Jil...w1ldol4/-"-•••--..--.- ..__0_ ...... o_~ _

Posting the Canadas

https://tessera.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/tessera/article/download/25008/23202

Posting the Canadas

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Tessera (E-Journal, York University)