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Columbia Encyclopedia: English Canadian literature,
literary works produced in Canada and written in the English language.

Early Canadian Writing

Although Canadian writing began as an imitative colonial literature, it has steadily developed its own national characteristics. Because of the huge immigrations, first of New England Puritans from 1760 on and later of American Loyalists during the Revolution, Canadian literature followed U.S. models almost until the confederation in 1867. Before 1800 the rigors of pioneering left little time for the writing or the appreciation of literature. The only notable works were journals, such as that of Jacob Bailey, and the recorded travels of explorers, such as Henry Kelsey, Samuel Hearne, and Sir Alexander Mackenzie.

The Canadian Novel

The first Canadian novelist of note was John Richardson, whose Wacousta (1832) popularized the genre of the national historical novel. With The Clockmaker (1836) T. C. Haliburton began his humorous series on Sam Slick, the Yankee peddler. Historical novelists writing c.1900 included William Kirby, author of The Golden Dog (1877), and Sir Gilbert Parker, author of The Seats of the Mighty (1896). The novels of Sara Jeannette Duncan, such as A Social Departure (1890), were noted for their satire and humor. The Rev. C. W. Gordon (Ralph Connor) produced Black Rock (1898), a series of novels on pioneer life in W Canada. Animal stories became popular in the works of Ernest Thompson Seton, Sir C. G. D. Roberts, and Margaret Marshall Saunders.

Since 1900, Canadian novels have tended toward stricter realism, but have remained predominantly regional, and many writers have been women. Among the most prominent authors have been Lucy M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables (1908); Mazo de la Roche, well known for her series on the Whiteoaks family of Jalna; Frederick P. Grove, author of Settlers of the Marsh (1925), a novel of farm life; and Laura Salverson and Nellie McClung, novelists of immigrant and rural life in W Canada.

Margaret Atwood is probably the best-known modern Canadian author. Other important novelists during and after World War II include Morley Callaghan, Gwethalyn Graham, John Buell, Hugh MacLennan, Mordecai Richler, Malcolm Lowry, Ethel Wilson, Robertson Davies, Brian Moore, Margaret Laurence, Timothy Findlay, Neil Bissoondath, and M. G. Vassanji. Many of their novels have focused attention on Canadian city life, social problems, and the large problem of Canadian cultural division.

Essays and Poetry

The essayist Northrop Frye is noted for his systematic classification of literature, presented in his Anatomy of Criticism (1957). Stephen Leacock is well known for his humorous essays as well as for his scholarship. Other notable essayists include Sir Andrew Macphail, Archibald MacMechan, and Lorne Pierce.

Genuinely Canadian poetry was late in developing. In the 18th cent. Puritan hymnists, such as Henry Alline, and refugee Tory satirists, such as Jonathan Odell, took their models from American colonial or English neoclassical literature. Before the confederation of 1867 the only poets of note were Charles Sangster, the first to make use of native material, and Charles Heavysege, whose long poetic drama Saul brought him widespread acclaim.

Starting c.1880, the “confederation school”—C. G. D. Roberts, Archibald Lampman, Bliss Carman, and Duncan Campbell Scott—began producing a large body of romantic poetry, describing nature and Canadian rural life. In 1905, long after her death in 1887, Isabella V. Crawford was recognized as an important poet; she was followed by Emily Pauline Johnson and Marjorie Pickthall. Other poets of the early part of the century included Wilfred Campbell, W. H. Drummond, Francis Sherman, John McCrae, and the greatly popular Robert W. Service.

In 1926 the prolific E. J. Pratt broke away from the romantic tradition with The Titans; his highly original and powerful epics place him among the foremost Canadian poets. Notable contemporary poets in the Pratt tradition include Kenneth Leslie, Earle Birney, W. W. E. Ross, Dorothy Livesay, and Anne Marriott. Other poets sharing the modern cosmopolitan tradition of the United States and W Europe are F. R. Scott, L. A. Mackay, A. M. Klein, P. K. Page, Irving Layton, Raymond Souster, James Reaney, Margaret Avison, Phyllis Webb, Leonard Cohen, and Margaret Atwood.

Bibliography

See bibliography by R. E. Watters (2d ed. 1972); R. P. Baker, A History of English Canadian Literature to the Confederation (1920, repr. 1968); C. F. Klinck, ed., A Literary History of Canada (1965); A. J. M. Smith, ed., Modern Canadian Verse in English and French (1967); M. Atwood, Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature (1972); G. Woodcock, The World of Canadian Writing (1980); W. Toye, ed., The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature (1983); D. Bennett, Canadian Literary Criticism (1989).


 
 
Wikipedia: Canadian literature

Canadian literature may be divided into two parts, based on their separate roots: one stems from the culture and literature from France; the other from Britain. Each is written in the language of its originating culture. However, collectively this literature has become distinctly Canadian.

Characteristics of Canadian literature

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Canada’s literature, whether written in English or French, often reflects the Canadian perspective on: (1) nature, (2) frontier life, and (3) Canada’s position in the world, all three of which tie in to the garrison mentality. Canada's ethnic and cultural diversity are reflected in its literature, with many of its most prominent writers focusing on ethnic life.

  • First, Canadian authors often emphasize the effect of climate and geography on people's lives.[citation needed]
  • Second, frontier life as cultural myth is frequently observed, as many authors evoke the westward march across Canada. Others document the drama in the lives of fishermen. The ever-present northern frontier is also widely used, with the constant expansion in the Arctic. [citation needed]
  • Third, many Canadian writers reflect upon Canada's position in the world. French Canadians often feel surrounded by their English-speaking neighbours; they determinedly preserve their own institutions and culture. Similarly, English Canadians frequently feel surrounded by the people and culture of the United States. Many novels and poems show how Canadian writers regard such problems. [citation needed]

The problem of Canadian literature

Canadian identity is closely tied to its literature. Leon Surette writes, "a disproportionate amount of commentary on Canadian writing has been cultural history (or prophecy) rather than truly literary commentary." [citation needed]

Because of its size and breadth, Canadian literature is often divided into sub-categories. Traditionally, there are at least three ways that critics and scholars have chosen to categorise Canadian literature:[citation needed]

  • The most common is to categorize it by region or province.
  • Another way is to categorize it by author. For instance, the literature of Canadian women, Acadians, Aboriginal peoples in Canada, and Irish Canadians have been anthologize as bodies of work.
  • A third is to divide it by literary period, such as "Canadian postmoderns" or "Canadian Poets Between the Wars."

Traits of Canadian literature

Traits common to works of Canadian literature include:[citation needed]

  • Failure as a theme: Failure and futility feature heavily as themes in many notable works; for instance, Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley or Kamouraska by Anne Hebert.
  • Humour: Serious subject matter is often laced with humour. See also: Canadian humour.
  • Mild anti-Americanism: There is marked sentiment of anti-American often in the form of gentle satire. While it is sometimes perceived as malicious, it often presents a friendly rivalry between the two nations
  • Multiculturalism: Since World War Two, multiculturalism has been an important theme. Writers using this theme include Mordecai Richler (known for novels such as The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz), Margaret Laurence, Rohinton Mistry, Michael Ondaatje -- The English Patient-- and prolific Chinese Canadian writer Wayson Choy.
  • Nature (and a "human vs. nature" tension): Reference to nature is common in Canada's literature. Nature is sometimes portrayed like an enemy, and sometimes like a divine force.
  • Satire and irony: Satire is probably one of the main elements of Canadian literature.
  • Self-deprecation: This is common in Canadian literature, and reflects Canadian culture.
  • Self-evaluation by the reader
Canadian writer Robertson Davies, author of The Deptford Trilogy which included the famous book, Fifth Business.
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Canadian writer Robertson Davies, author of The Deptford Trilogy which included the famous book, Fifth Business.

French-Canadian literature

French-Canadian literature evolved separately from English literature on a different path. It was not appended to its parent culture, unlike its English counterpart; rather, the struggle of French Canada sought its own style and identity. [citation needed] From the early settlements until the 1820s, Quebec had virtually no literature. Though a few historians, journalists, and learned priests published, overall the total output was small.

It was the rise of Quebec patriotism and the 1837 Lower Canada Rebellion, in addition to a modern system of primary school education, which led to the rise of French-Canadian fiction. L'influence d'un livre by Philippe-Ignace-Francois Aubert de Gaspé is widely regarded as the first French-Canadian novel. The genres which first became popular were the rural novel and the historical novel. French authors were influential, especially authors like Balzac.

In 1866, Father Henri-Raymond Casgrain became one of Quebec's first literary theorists. He argued that literature's goal should be to project an image of proper Catholic morality. Québécois authors adopted this view and wrote works which were considered bland. [citation needed] However, a few authors like Louis-Honoré Fréchette and Arthur Buies broke the conventions to write more interesting works.

This pattern continued until the 1930s with a new group of authors educated at the Université Laval and the Université de Montréal. Novels with psychological and sociological foundations became the norm. Authors such as Gabrielle Roy and Anne Hébert, for the first time, began to earn international acclaim. During this period, Quebec theatre, which had previously been melodramas and comedies, became far more involved.

French-Canadian literature began to greatly expand with the turmoil of the Second World War, the beginnings of industrialization in the 1950s, and most especially the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s. French-Canadian literature also began to attract a great deal of attention globally, with Acadian novelist Antonine Maillet winning the Prix Goncourt. An experimental branch of Quebecois literature also developed; for instance the poet Nicole Brossard wrote in a formalist style. In 1979, Roch Carrier wrote the story The Hockey Sweater, which highlighted the cultural and social tensions between English and French speaking Canada.

See also: List of Quebec writers, Literature of Quebec, List of French Canadian writers from outside Quebec

Contemporary Canadian literature: late 20th to 21st century

In the 1980s, Canadian literature began to be noticed around the world. [citation needed] By the 1990s, Canadian literature was viewed as some of the world's best, and Canadian authors began to accumulate international awards. [1] In 1992, Michael Ondaatje became the first Canadian to win the Booker Prize for The English Patient. Atwood won the Booker in 2000 for The Blind Assassin and Yann Martel won it in 2002 for The Life of Pi. Alistair MacLeod won the 2001 IMPAC Award for No Great Mischief. Carol Shields's The Stone Diaries won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and in 1998 her novel Larry's Party won the Orange Prize. Douglas Coupland has also achieved significant success for his work, particularly Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture. Canadian poet Leonard Cohen is perhaps best known as a folk singer and songwriter, with an international following.

Today Canadians still read much by foreign authors, but many Canadian books have been runaway best sellers.

Notable figures

Because Canada only officially became a country on July 1, 1867, it has been argued that literature written before this time was colonial. For example, Susanna Moodie and Catherine Parr Traill, English sisters who adopted the country as their own, moved to Canada in 1832. They recorded their experiences as pioneers in Parr Traill's The Backwoods of Canada (1836) and Canadian Crusoes (1852), and Moodie's Roughing It in the Bush (1852) and Life in the Clearings (1853). However, both women wrote until their deaths, placing them in the country for more than 50 years and certainly well past Confederation. Moreover, their books often dealt with survival and the rugged Canadian environment; these themes re-appear in other Canadian works, including Margaret Atwood's Survival. Moodie and Parr Traill's sister, Agnes Strickland, remained in England and wrote elegant royal biographies, creating a stark contrast between Canadian and English literatures.

However, one of the earliest "Canadian" writers virtually always included in Canadian literary anthologies is Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796–1865), who died just two years before Canada's official birth. He is remembered for his comic character, Sam Slick, who appeared in The Clockmaker and other humorous works throughout Haliburton's life.

Arguably, the best-internationally-known living Canadian writer (especially after the recent passing of Canadian greats, Robertson Davies, Mordecai Richler and Timothy Findley) is Margaret Atwood, a prolific novelist, poet, and literary critic. This group, along with Alice Munro, who has been called the best living writer of short stories in English,[2] were the first to elevate Canadian Literature to the world stage. During the post-war decades only a handful of books of any literary merit were published each year in Canada, and Canadian literature was viewed as an appendage to British and American writing. Much of what was produced dealt with extremely typical Canadiana such as the outdoors and animals, or events in Canadian history. A reaction against this tradition, poet Leonard Cohen's novel Beautiful Losers (1966), was labelled by one reviewer "the most revolting book ever written in Canada".[3] Most of what Canadians read was written in the United States or Great Britain. Most of what was studied in Canadian schools and universities was also foreign.

Awards

The 1996 film adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's book The English Patient.
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The 1996 film adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's book The English Patient.

There are a number of notable Canadian awards for literature:

Awards For Children and Young Adult Literature:

See also

References

  1. ^ | Robert Fulford's column about the international success of Canadian literature
  2. ^ "For a long time Alice Munro has been compared with Chekhov; John Updike would add Tolstoy, and AS Byatt would say Guy de Maupassant and Flaubert. Munro is often called the best living writer of short stories in English; the words "short story" are frequently dropped." Riches of a Double Life, Ada Edemariam, Guardian Online, retrieved 11 October 2006.
  3. ^ Who held a gun to Leonard Cohen's head? Tim de Lisle, Guardian Online, retrieved 11October 2006.

 
 

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Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Canadian literature" Read more

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