Potential sites of transgression in Michael Crummey's The Innocents: Questioning theoretical and ethical boundaries

Abstract

AbstractThe article offers a reading of Michael Crummey's The Innocents (2019) through the lens of potential transgressions, such as the crossing of moral boundaries, cultural appropriation, or the secondary colonization of the Indigene. It argues the validity of reading Canadian invader–settler stories in the light of postcolonial studies and discusses the hazards of literary representation of First Nations in historical fiction produced by non‐Native writers. Secondly, the critical analysis focuses on the subversive rewriting of the biblical tale of Adam and Eve as Crummey's strategy for negotiating his (island's) settler identity. Finally, the chapter problematizes the incestuous nature of Ada and Evered's relationship as a potential though highly disputable transgression.