Canadian Literature

by Hammill, Faye

• ISBN13: 9780748621613
• ISBN10: 074862161X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-09-12
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Summary

An important critical study of Canadian literature, placing internationally successful anglophone Canadian authors in the context of their national literary history.While the focus of the book is on twentieth-century and contemporary writing, it also charts the historical development of Canadian literature and discusses important eighteenth- and nineteenth-century authors. The chapters focus on four central themes in Canadian culture: Ethnicity, Race, Colonisation; Wildernesses, Cities, Regions; Desire; and Histories and Stories. Each chapter combines case studies of five key texts with a broad discussion of concepts and approaches, including postcolonial and postmodern reading strategies and theories of space, place and desire. Authors chosen for close analysis include Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Alice Munro, Leonard Cohen, Thomas King and Carol Shields.Features*The first critical guide to Canadian literature in English*Authors selected on the basis of their popularity on undergraduate courses*Combines historical and thematic approaches to Canadian writing*Links close reading of key texts with theoretical approaches to Canadian literature

Table of Contents

Series Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. viii
Abbreviations	p. x
Chronology	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Historical Synopsis of Canadian Literature in English	p. 4
Canon-making and Literary History in Canada	p. 12
Indigenous Canadians	p. 17
About this Book	p. 20
Ethnicity, Race, Colonisation	p. 25
The History of Emily Montague (1769)	p. 33
Tekahionwake selected poetry	p. 38
Obasan (1981)	p. 43
The Rez Sisters (1988)	p. 48
Green Grass Running Water (1993)	p. 52
Conclusion	p. 56
Wilderness, Cities, Regions	p. 61
The Republic of Love (1992)	p. 76
The Cunning Man (1994)	p. 81
'A Wilderness Station', and Margaret Atwood, 'Wilderness Tips'	p. 86
Conclusion	p. 92
Desire	p. 96
Wild Geese (1925)	p. 105
Memoirs of Montparnasse (1970)	p. 109
Beautiful Losers (1966)	p. 113
Fugitive Pieces (1996)	p. 118
Land to Light On (1997)	p. 123
Conclusion	p. 128
Histories and Stories	p. 133
Brebeuf and His Brethren (1940)	p. 137
The Journals of Susanna Moodie (1970)	p. 143
The Diviners (1974)	p. 148
Ana Historic (1988)	p. 154
In the Skin of a Lion (1987)	p. 158
Conclusion	p. 163
Conclusion	p. 167
Student Resources	p. 177
Electronic Resources and Reference Sources	p. 177
Questions for Discussion	p. 181
Alternative Primary Texts for Chapter Topics	p. 190
Glossary	p. 192
Guide to Further Reading	p. 202
Index	p. 215
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