Survival, Recovery, And Challenge

Maria Campbell is one of the most influential female Native writers in Canada. Her autobiography Halfbreed, created by her double roles and from the perspectives of being female and Native, has aroused widespread concern in society since it was published. The autobiography not only plays a positive role in the subversion of Canadian history that was told by white men, but also demonstrates native people's rich cultural heritage. Therefore, it is known as the landmark of the Renaissance of contemporary Canadian Native literature.This thesis is based on text analysis of Halfbreed, focusing on analyzing the heroine Maria Campbell's three important phrases-survival, recovery and challenge. The chapter of survival progressively presents how the Native people, Metis and Maria Campbell survived in the dilemma between European colonization and Native traditional culture; the chapter of recovery tells about the process that Campbell experienced from breakdown to wakeup and recovery, analyzing the family and social factors-leading to her breakdown, the influence of Native culture-promoting her wakeup, and the literary writing-helping her spirit's recovery; Although Campbell and her nation have made some achievements in fighting for ethnic self-respect, rights and revival, they are still facing many challenges in the post-colonial context. Campbell's personal growth experiences reflect the struggling process of native people-survival, recovery and the challenge currently facing. It is very significant to study on the text of Halfbreed. On the one hand, the studies on Canadian Native literature was at the initial stage in China and the study on the three themes of this text is the first attempt; on the other hand, in today's global multicultural background, study on the text of Halfbreed will be helpful for us to understand Canadian Native history, culture and living condition more objectively and comprehensively, it also could provide some references for china to preserve and develop its ethnic culture.