Fact versus fiction in Rudy Wiebe’s “Where is the Voice Coming from”

Abstract

Rudy Wiebe’s collection of short stories Where Is the Voice Coming From was first published in 1974. The mere fact that this collection has seen numerous new editions at the turn of the 21st century reflects its credibility in depicting contemporary indigenous phenomena. Apart from exploring the complex relationship of document, history, and fiction, the well-known title story depicts two contrasted views on experiencing reality—the one that perceives it as a mysterious, almost mystical experience and is generally related to the oral traditions of the indigenous peoples and the other one that rests on the allegedly objective factual evidence of the white settlers. In his exploration of the conflict between the ‘Almighty Voice’ and the NorthWest Mounted police, which has been the subject of various conflicting accounts, Wiebe examines the process of turning events into stories and expresses his doubts about their historical accuracy. In that, he comes close to the view of various postcolonial literary critics who generally oppose the trend of falsifying reality by relying on the objectivity of historical reports as the only way of experiencing and decoding the past.