Rafał Madeja

University of Silesia in Katowice, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of Literary Studies, Faculty Member

University of Silesia in Katowice, Department of American and Canadian Studies, Faculty Member

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PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of Silesia and a former Research Assistant at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Supervisors: Prof. Eugenia Sojka and Prof. Marlene Atleo
Address: +1 236-877-6144

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7 Papers

Papers by Rafał Madeja

Kota jako źródło indygenicznych onto-epistemologii w perspektywie transkulturowego obszaru wiedzy [Kota String Figures: A Source of Indigenous Onto-Epistemologies within a Transcultural Realm of Knowledge]

„Teksty Drugie. Teoria literatury, krytyka, interpretacja [Second Texts: Literary Theory, Criticism, and Interpretation]”, 2024

Written from the transcultural perspective of a researcher from Eastern Europe, the articlepartak... more Written from the transcultural perspective of a researcher from Eastern Europe, the articlepartakes in the process of decolonization and re-indigenization of scientific research.The author emphasizes the need to reclaim in Europe indigeneity, local perspectives,and marginalized knowledge systems along the lines of the processes that happen inCanadian indigenous communities. The text focuses on “pattern literacy” and employs asa case study the performance art of kota by the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation. Using indigenousmethodologies, the author analyzes selected kota and accompanying narratives to showthat it is a somatic and experiential science that uses mnemonics and kinesthetics toconvey ontoepistemologies related to ethical management of the environment. Therevitalization of kota and its application to the transmission of environmental knowledgerecovers marginalized indigenous knowledge, demonstrates the complexity of relatedcultures, and reveals the changing geopolitics of knowledge

Reclaiming Indigeneity and Indigenous Place-Based Onto-Epistemologies through Stories and Kota String Figures

VXIII Seminario Internacional de estudios canadienses SECAN 2024, 2024

Storytelling jako forma przekazu rdzennej wiedzy ekologicznej Pierwszych Narodów Kanady

PISZĄCY Z ZIEMI: Teatr indygenny Floyda Favela i inne eseje, 2021

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A Loop of String: Storytelling Across Language Barriers

Bridges Between Cultures: Ties and Knots, Feb 2018

Amongst a great variety of games played by adults and children alike, string figures alongside st... more Amongst a great variety of games played by adults and children alike, string figures alongside string stories may not only be acknowledged as the oldest of humanity’s pastimes, but they may also be one of the most widespread and entertaining ways of weaving intricate designs aimed at preserving records, mythologies, and historical accounts in the world, for more culture groups appear to be acquainted with string figure patterns than with any other game. Significantly, the popularity of string games may derive from the novelty of constructing highly complex designs instantaneously in a reproducible fashion, employing available materials such as plant fibers or leather thongs. What is of paramount importance here is the fact that various cultures – whilst separated by thousands of years and millions of miles –brought to life largely similar string figure designs serving as a sort of vehicle for self-expression and created storytelling repertoires, sharing, at least, identically weaved core figures. Employed as a primitive form of cinematography, string figures provided a ready means of illustration for elements related in a story, and although chants which accompanied displayed patterns either imminently became too archaic to understand or disappeared altogether, the weaved patterns are still discernible, frequently common, and reproducible, independent of the weaver’s artistic skills. Hence, the questions that begs to be addressed in this paper are how, in the absence of migration, various culture groups, most importantly Coastal First Nations in Canada and Ainu People in Japan, were capable of inventing intricate designs which somehow diffused from one cultural unit to another, in effect, closely resembling each other, and what changes these figures along with string stories have undergone since they diffused from their site of origin.

A Floating Homeland: (De)Constructing Canadianness from the Insider‑Outsider Perspective of Japanese‑Canadians

Romanica Silesiana No 10 Insularia, 2015

On the basis of Joy Kogawa’s “Obasan”, the main objective of this paper is to take under the scru... more On the basis of Joy Kogawa’s “Obasan”, the main objective of this paper is to take under the scrutinizing eye how the central protagonist retrieves a selective portion of her childhood memories during the Second World War in an effort to reshape her fragmented identity as a Japanese-Canadian and to deal with the feeling of displacement. Analyzing essential memories, conversations, and stories within the plotline, the aim is to demonstrate that Naomi, in order to fight her identity crisis and feeling of displacement — due to the Japanese community’s sense of belonging in Canada being shuttered by the Canadian government — recasts her personal experiences to her own needs for the identity refashioning in-between cultures, therefore, in Homi Bhabha’s terms, giving life to a sort of “Third Space.” This paper will therefore demonstrate numerous ways in terms of which the protagonist intrudes upon iconic wilderness and rural landscapes in Canada — hitherto emptied of the indigenous and minorities and thus functioning as a sort of privileged sites of national identity — so as to transform them into heterogeneous and more inclusive spaces, breaking the binary opposition between away and home, a newcomer and native. Significantly, the protagonist’s storytelling may be distinguished by great attention to nature, botanical imagery, and landscapes shaped by experiences of displacement, and it may be argued that the novel is targeted at re-visiting traditional sites of identity construction as well as bringing into tensions historicizing and idealizing visions of the natural environment to challenge the myths of Japanese-Canadians’ identity that these sites were hitherto created to support. It brings into life a “Third Space” in the form of a personal island which will neither float to the Japanese Archipelago nor towards Canada, but it will be a separate entity including both. Hence, the dialogic relation between identity and rural and wilderness landscapes provides alternative forms of meaningful emplacement for the self — a personal “floating homeland” anchored in-between the two cultures.

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Enacting Nature: Stories and Practices Reflecting Coastal First Nations Deep Connection to the Natural World

Brief - Online Journal of Snippets, 2014

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Are Trade Agreements with Asia in Canada's Interest?

National Conversation on Canada , 2011

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