1. Lillian Allen asserts that dub poetry is more than art; it is a form of active citizenship and political engagement. How does dub poetry function as a tool of resistance, and in what ways does it challenge dominant narratives in Canadian literature?

2. In this chapter, the author, Paul db Watkins, suggests that Zong! can be read as an improvised dub chant, even though it is not strictly a dub poem. How does the concept of "versioning" in reggae and dub music inform the structure and reading experience of Zong!?

3. Women dub poets, including Lillian Allen, Afua Cooper, and d’bi.young anitafrika, have played a crucial role in shaping the form. How does dub poetry provide a space for Black women to articulate their experiences of migration, oppression, and agency? How might Zong! fit within this tradition?

4. Zong! is often described as a fragmented, non-linear work that resists conventional poetic forms. How does Philip use silence, repetition, and erasure to evoke loss, trauma, and memory in Zong!?

5. How does Zong! challenge traditional historical archives, and what does its performance-like structure suggest about the act of co-creation and memory?

6. Jacques Derrida’s concept of hauntology describes how the past continues to unsettle the present through traces, echoes, and spectral absences. In what ways does Zong! fit within a hauntological tradition? How does Philip’s use of fragmented language and scattered voices reflect the spectral presence of history?

SOUNDIN' CANAAN REMIXED

Chapter 3: M. NourbeSe Philip

Supplemental Links

Part I

Part II

Part III

Additional Sources

Discussion Questions