Exploring Transcultural Community: Realistic Visions in Sami (Norwegian-Danish) and Ojibwe (Canadian) Novels

Abstract

This article compares the protagonists’ identity constitution in the novels Og sådan blev det (2013) [And so it turned out] by Maren Uthaug (2013) and Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese (2014). Indigenous identity is historically and theoretically framed by political discourses and postcolonial theory. Indigenous concepts of land and story, concepts of cultural memory, western postmodern subject philosophy, and Indigenous research methods serve as a basis to explain the characters’ success in constituting their individual Indigenous identity within ethnically and culturally diverse communities while finding ways of mutual understanding, bridging the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous People. The novels suggest visionary but realistic ways of constituting Indigenous identity in transcultural communities and convey ethical values fundamental to all human beings—regardless of ethnicity and culture.