The embodiment and ‘refusal’ of the white possessive in opera: a comparative analysis of Louis Riel and Li Keur

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dc.contributor.authorStonyk, Nicole
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeMiller, Cary (Indigenous Studies)
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeSimonot-Maiello, Colette (Faculty of Music)
dc.contributor.supervisorCarleton, Sean
dc.date.accessioned2023-12-22T15:43:53Z
dc.date.available2023-12-22T15:43:53Z
dc.date.issued2023-12-21
dc.date.submitted2023-12-22T03:34:39Zen_US
dc.degree.disciplineIndigenous Studiesen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts (M.A.)
dc.description.abstractThis thesis critically examines representations of Métis leader Louis Riel (1844–1885) in Canadian opera through the theoretical framework of Aileen Moreton-Robinson's logics of white possession. The thesis uses discourse analysis by comparing and contrasting two operas, Louis Riel (1967) and Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North (2023). It highlights the politics of production of each opera and examines the ways in which these cultural productions shape public perception as well as the ways they represent, or resist, the complexity and agency of Indigenous cultures. After an introduction outlining relevant literature and methodology, the thesis’s first chapter examines how Louis Riel perpetuates the logics of white possession. It argues that the opera does so through the intersection of racialization, whiteness, and biopower that disavows Indigenous sovereignty and the power struggles between the politics of production and problematic hegemonic devices that use Riel as a unifying Canadian national identity at a historically important point in Canadian history. Chapter 2 compares Louis Riel with Li Keur to demonstrate how this new opera, when led by Indigenous creators and community members, challenges the logics of white possession, the classical music hierarchy, and masculinist Western-Eurocentric aesthetic by centering Indigenous women, languages, and culture in ways that assert Indigenous sovereignty. Overall, the thesis contends that the white possessive does not need to be an inherent quality in the classical music medium and offers a cautionary discourse for those engaging in musical works on, by, or with Indigenous People.en_US
dc.description.noteFebruary 2024
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/37891
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.subjectWhite Possessive
dc.subjectOpera
dc.titleThe embodiment and ‘refusal’ of the white possessive in opera: a comparative analysis of Louis Riel and Li Keur
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
local.subject.manitobayes
oaire.awardTitleJoseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship-Master’s
project.funder.nameSocial Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
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