The Life of Rudy Wiebe
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The Life of the Canadian Author Rudy Wiebe
Religion
Theme of religion in his writing:
- “Wiebe continually tests the textual foundations of historical and religious certainty”
“ each of us has a particular name, we live a particular life, it is only out of both that we can write” (Governor General).
- Peace Shall Destroy Many
- Thom finding himself among Mennonite community
**Peace Shall Destroy Many (novel) 1962
PEACE SHALL DESTROY MANY
- caused much controversy
“ I tried to write about what I knew: people living in Western Canada ... I see no point in writing imaginatively unless it is done with both a critical coldness and an intense compassion; the simultaneous brilliance and stupidity of human beings deserves nothing less”
- lost his job, as editor of a Mennonite Magazine
- book was banned in some communities
- people did not like this novel because they felt like he poorly portrayed the Mennonites
-Wiebe, “ publishing that first novel became for me bot and exaltation and a trauma; it certainly changed the direction of the rest of my life
* Mennonite background
-Mennonite church, Mennonite community,
* pacifists
- "the belief that any violence, including war, is unjustifiable under any circumstances, and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means."
* "Before I was born my mother’s blood and breath formed me to know that God is everywhere. Whatever and everything “God” may mean, the presence is."- Wiebe
*
“ Wiebe’s novels do not invite readers to view remnants of a story. Instead readers are invited to engage in an ongoing remaking of neglected or suppressed stories and seek to understand the elements they may not have stopped to consider before”
By Brianna
Rudy Wiebe
Rudy Wiebe, is a Canadian writer best known for his novels set in the prairies. He often writes about the Mennonite and Aboriginal community. He has written a number of novels that are based on historical events.
RUDY WIEBE TODAY
- married Tena in 1958 (met in Germany; she was another Canadian student)
- had 3 kids: Adrienne, Michael and Christopher(on 100 Huntley Street, he mentions one of his sons committed suicide)
- travelling, people watching, and taking photographs
- now living in Edmonton
- does some speaking
- active part of his local Mennonite Church.
Impacts of his writing:
#1: Mennonite
-Mennonites are becoming more thankful to Wiebe for his honesty, saying that Wiebe has, “saved us from ourselves”
“Mennonites, especially, should take their stories to heart, not only for entertainment, but also for self-correction, a sharper self-identity, and, on a lighter note, a good laugh at our cultural idiosyncrasies and ourselves”
#2: Aboriginal
“[Wiebe is] one of the only white Canadian writers to give a literary voice to the First Nations people of Canada”
Wiebe has been able to incorporate their stories into his writing, allowing them to speak to the world through his novels.
Mennonite community vs. Native community
-Even as a non-Aboriginal, he shows insight through his historical research, and he shows his heart for the indigenous people
Wiebe is “best known for works that emphasize spirituality, faith, and morality among indigenous peoples and white settlers."
Themes
1973 - Governor General's Award for Fiction for The Temptations of Big Bear
1986 - Royal Society of Canada's Lorne Pierce Medal
1994 - Governor General's Award for Fiction for A Discovery of Strangers
2000 - Made an Officer of the Order of Canada
2007 - Charles Taylor Prize for Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest
2007 - Leslie K. Tarr Award Winner
2009 - Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Alberta
2009 - Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award Winner
AWARDS
1934- Born in Speedwell Jackpine Saskatchewan (cordinants: S.W 31-52-17 West 3rd)
-youngest of 7 ( sister Helen died in
- parents were Russian emigrants
-German in the household
- Mennonite community
- lived in a log house o
- church was the centre
Biographical information:
First and Vital Candle (novel) 1966
**The Blue Mountains of China (novel) 1970
**The Temptations of Big Bear (novel) 1973
Where Is the Voice Coming From? (short stories) 1974
The Scorched-Wood People: A Novel (novel) 1977
The Mad Trapper: A Novel (novel) 1980
The Angel of the Tar Sands, and Other Stories (short stories) 1982
My Lovely Enemy: A Novel (novel) 1983
Silence, the Word, and the Sacred: Essays (essays) 1989
**A Discovery of Strangers (novel) 1994
River of Stone: Fictions and Memories (short stories and essays) 1995
Big Bear [with Gil Cardinal] (screenplay) 1998
**Stolen Life: The Journey of a Cree Woman [with Yvonne Johnson] (nonfiction) 1998
Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest (autobiography) 2007
Sweeter Than All the World (novel) 2001
works/ KEY works
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Education/ Educational Influences