Academic Section (Vol. 1, No. 2)

Abstract
Using the Indian Residential School (IRS) system as an example, this paper examines the internet as a decolonial site. To do so, I will draw on decolonial concepts as well as ideas from spatial theory. Through the analysis of Indigenous-led organizations and a Facebook group dedicated to the collective memory work of the IRS system, I argue that social media platforms can contribute to revitalize culture and foster communal bonds. Amongst others, digital storytelling, the establishment of common symbols, and the organization of joint actions in the offline world have emerged as digital strategies. These are complemented by collecting and sharing memories and educational materials online.

Keywords
Postcolonial Studies – Digital Resiliency – First Nations – Decolonization

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Abstract
The British Empire and imperialism are crucial parts of Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion. To investigate how the novel represents and purports imperialism, this paper combines a structuralist with a postcolonial approach and applies Said’s method of ‘contrapuntal reading.’ In addition, the approach of cultural materialism is relevant for the novel’s representation of class. My argumentation first consists of an analysis of the character constellation, in particular the opposition of gentry and naval characters, and narrative situation before turning to the novel’s marriage plot. I argue that Austen’s realist novel Persuasion legitimizes British imperialism due to its use of narrative techniques, plot, and character constellation. The narrative does not question the represented empire which functions as an opportunity for wealth and social mobility for the characters. The marriage plot, in which the female protagonist chooses a naval captain over her cousin from the landed gentry, further corroborates the novel’s support of the British Empire and demonstrates the increasing importance of the navy as well as the professional classes for England at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Keywords
Postcolonial criticism – Jane Austen – marriage plot – contrapuntal reading – class

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Abstract
This article examines gender roles and relations in the young adult novel Twilight (2005) by Stephenie Meyer, utilizing the structuralist anthropological theory of the exchange of women as the basis of kinship introduced by Claude Lévi-Strauss in 1949. This theory with regards to its implications about gender is first analyzed through a feminist perspective and then applied to Twilight, focusing primarily on the protagonist and her love interest. Finding that what is presented in the novel in terms of gender is almost analogous to the Lévi-Strauss’s ideas, this article argues that Meyer perpetuates archaic hetero-patriarchal gender relations in her work. This conclusion is given weight by framing it through Judith Butler’s theory about the repetitive nature of gender performance.

Keywords
Twilight – Feminist Studies – Gender Studies – Young Adult Fiction

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