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Dergiler / Litera: Dil Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 35 Sayı: Special Issue Özel Sayı

Resisting Translation and Tomson Highway’s Rez Cycle Plays: Building Community Through Cree Language in The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing

Raphaela Pavlakos(McMaster University, Department of English and Cultural Studies)0000-0001-7036-3980
Sayfa
75–87
Yayın Tarihi
2025-08-05
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⚡ TL;DR(1 Cümlede Hızlı Çıkarım)

This article will explore Highway’s selective use of translation in his published plays (and rejection of it on stage) as a way of building community and highlight the ways in which Indigenous Theatre functions as a space of Indigenous resistance.

📌 3 Maddede Bu Makale

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Amaç & Hipotez:Inclusion of non-colonial language in theatre spaces is just one of the tools Indigenous playwrights can wield as a tool to make space for the inclusion of Indigenous voices.
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Temel Bulgular & Veri:Highway, whose first language was Cree, includes his traditional language throughout his Rez Cycle plays, The Rez Sisters (1986) and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing (1989), as a form of resistance against the colonial erasure of traditional Indigenous languages.
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Sonuç & Katkı:This article will explore Highway’s selective use of translation in his published plays (and rejection of it on stage) as a way of building community and highlight the ways in which Indigenous Theatre functions as a space of Indigenous resistance.
🔬Tür:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Kapsam:Genişletilmiş Akademik Örneklem
⚙️Değişkenler:Indigenous drama · Translation · Cree

Abstract

Inclusion of non-colonial language in theatre spaces is just one of the tools Indigenous playwrights can wield as a tool to make space for the inclusion of Indigenous voices. The Cree playwright Tomson Highway also uses this technique to build resistance. Highway, whose first language was Cree, includes his traditional language throughout his Rez Cycle plays, The Rez Sisters (1986) and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing (1989), as a form of resistance against the colonial erasure of traditional Indigenous languages. Reading these plays can be a jarring experience for non-Indigenous readers, as Highway refuses to include in-text translations for his Cree dialogue, much like how the performance would be experienced for a non-Indigenous audience. While Highway includes translations in foot notes or post-text appendices, this highlights the important questions of audience, inclusivity, and translation. This article uses a methodological lens I have developed called Critical Dispositioning, which is specifically designed to facilitate ethical engagement with Indigenous texts by settler-scholars. This article will explore Highway’s selective use of translation in his published plays (and rejection of it on stage) as a way of building community and highlight the ways in which Indigenous Theatre functions as a space of Indigenous resistance.

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Bu Makaleye Atıf Yap

Pavlakos, R. (2025). Resisting Translation and Tomson Highway’s Rez Cycle Plays: Building Community Through Cree Language in The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing. Litera: Dil Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi, Cilt: 35 Sayı: Special Issue Özel Sayı, 75–87. https://doi.org/10.26650/LITERA2024-1586309

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