Canada and the Idea of North

by Grace, Sherrill E.

• ISBN13: 9780773522473
• ISBN10: 0773522476
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: McGill Queens Univ

Summary

Canada and the Idea of North examines the ways in which Canadians have defined themselves as a northern people in their literature, art, music, drama, history, geography, politics, and popular culture. From the Franklin Mystery to the comic book superheroine Nelvana, Glenn Gould's documentaries, the paintings of Lawren Harris, and Molson beer ads, the idea of the north has been central to the Canadian imagination. Sherrill Grace argues that Canadians have always used ideas of Canada-as-North to promote a distinct national identity and national unity. In a penultimate chapter - "The North Writes Back" - Grace presents newly emerging northern voices and shows how they view the long tradition of representing the North by southern activists, artists, and scholars. With the recent creation of Nunavut, increasing concern about northern ecosystems and social challenges, and renewed attention to Canada's role as a circumpolar nation, Canada and the Idea of North shows that nordicity still plays an urgent and central role in Canada at the start of the twenty-first century.

Author Biography

Sherrill E. Grace is head of the English department at the University of British Columbia.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
Introducing North	xi
Prologue Ideas of North	3	(16)
PART ONE WRITING THE NORTH	19	(58)
Representing North	21	(24)
Constructing a Northern Nation	45	(32)
PART TWO ARTICULATING NORTH	77	(88)
Visualizing North	79	(45)
Performing North	124	(41)
PART THREE NARRATING A NORTHERN NATION	165	(62)
Fictions of North	167	(60)
PART FOUR THE NORTH WRITES BACK	227	(34)
Writing, Re-Writing, and Writing Back	229	(32)
Epilogue Magnetic North	261	(8)
Notes	269	(30)
An Interdisciplinary Bibliography	299	(34)
Index	333