Canadian Literary Inquirer’s

Introduction:

I would like to start off with Allison Calder’s article which inspired our choice of intervention. She raises several important questions: “what happened to regionalism? What happened to place and location in Canadian literary studies?” In her article she points out that regionalism is slowly being lost from literature, and that it is essential to keep in mind. She ends her article with the thought of “If one aim of literary and cultural studies is to develop ways of thinking about the world that are present and helpful, then grounding our analysis in specific places – and seeing our analysis in the context of specific places – needs to be part of the picture.”

There are themes that have come up was well throughout the course that we’ve discussed, that regionalism can help with. As Dr. Paterson points out, Chamberlain urges us to “find common ground” , this is quite literally a form of regionalism. To identify what we have in common and gain understanding from that. Thomas King’s “want a different ethic? Tell a different story” is another example where regionalism is important. Every region has it’s own story and it’s own ethic, and understanding the nuances of those leads to greater understanding. Finally, again as Dr. Paterson points out, there is a call for “encouraging connections between people and ideas – and again, to listen; “to take seriously” the places we inhabit, the art we produce, the stories we tell.” This can be done through exploring regionalism, and is why we have chosen this intervention.

Our research, as well as our partner group focusing on regionalism, has looked at things ranging from the urbanization of Canada, socioeconomic regionalism, Canada’s identity crisis, the French-English divide, residential schools, the loss of home First Nations, and many more besides. There are many factors as play here, but hopefully we can narrow down a few to help provide a focus for this intervention, as well as providing ideas for future research and changes to Canadian literature.

Central points discussed and questions posed:

• Translating literature from other languages can be problematic as this may contort the original composite into a North American worldview while losing the unique culturally-specific flavor of the piece
• Local color is distinct from regionalism: the former emphasises the “natural characteristics” that make people, groups, places, and objects unique, whereas regionalism emphasises characteristics of specific geographic areas
• Space becomes a place when people have social interactions in that location. This gives that place meaning and provides people with identity

• There is a lack of unity in Canada, which is due in part to colonial processes and the assimilation, as well as continued disclusion of minority ethnic groups in the general understanding of what is included in the Canadian identity.
• As globalization continues to increase in our world, will regionalist literature continue?
  • Commentary: “Canada in and of itself doesn’t market itself with a strong identity to the international community as it is I think. There doesn’t appear to be a lot of interest in what we think, only in what we can provide (land, resources, aid). So it makes sense then that there isn’t a lot of interest either in the specific subset of Canadian culture that is Quebecois literature. not even with those in France, as there is a distinct difference between those two regions. Within Canada, I don’t think Quebecois literature is received well for similar reasons. Canada is so large geographically, that things one region identify strongly with don’t even exist in others. It becomes quite hard to market those ideas then, when they are based in culture and experiences that aren’t relatable to large parts of the country. I think this is a really strong example of the regionalism within the country, and how many provinces think quite insular.” – Ross Hilliam
    • Even with globalism on the rise, Canada’s regionalism persists due to the natural geography of such a large and geographically diverse country, as well as the deeply embedded cultural differences between provinces. As Ross says, some literature cannot even be shared from province to province within Canada, so the global reach would be even less so. In the case of Quebec vs. English-speaking Canada, Quebec’s identity has been shaped partly in relation to their anglo-neighbours, so our differences are pronounced and important to the region culturally, despite the heavily intertwined economic systems of the provinces. Living in a highly individualistic and identity-based culture, the idea that there is one shared Canadian experience is becoming less and less prominent. Groups are becoming more entrenched in their community rather than a nationalistic pride.
• Are the concepts of home and citizenship tied more to physicality, or do narratives and stories play a greater role? Does the physical displacement of Indigenous communities from their land mean that those places are no longer their home – or not to the same extent as others?
• How can regionalist literature in Canada move past the stereotypical portrayal of the Canadian citizen, to incorporate the great multiculturalism and diversity found in our home?
  • Commentary: “There are many Canadian/ Indigenous authors who are writing smart, modern, and innovative material, much of which is NOT set in the “wild”. In “Canadian Literary Urbanism”, McFarlane points out that the city has played a role in Canadian literature for a long time. Yet it seems that there is still a stubborn attitude towards urbanism in Canadian lit- it’s as though there is a resistance towards accepting the fact that Canada DOES have a culture outside of the wilderness. Are these stereotypes harmful? In the way that all stereotypes can ultimately lead to harm, yes. Nothing should ever be tidily boxed up into one point of view.” -Marianne Brownie
    • Marianne makes a great point about the harmful effects of putting restrictions on writing. For example, if we continue to stereotype and typecast Indigenous writing in the name of representation, the harmful history and gatekeeping we are trying to undo becomes even more deeply ingrained and insidious. Not only does this promote mainstream narratives that the white majority have become comfortable with, but it refuses to challenge the reader and silences innovation and interesting stories that are being written by marginalized voices.
  • Commentary: “Wilderness, as Marianne pointed out is the dominant stores that come from Canada. This is not super detrimental however it does not leave much room for other works and genres such as urbanism. A big area that is not considered outrightly Canadian unless we know the author’s history would be fiction. The life of Pie and the Handmaid’s tale is more work of Canadian fiction yet they are not talked about as “Canadian” literature as someone like Hemingway is talked about as American literature. Canadian literature has not had the chance to completely develop into a complete and complex genre.” -Tamara
    • The question of Canadian Literature as a genre is very interesting in the context of this conversation about stereotyping. The development of a Canadian canon has taken a different road to the American canon as Canada did not shake the influence of British Literature as well as the US did. Until well into the 20th century, British literature was and still is to some extent seen a superior. In recent years, the championing of Canadian literature as a distinct genre has warranted further scholarly examination and luckily these discussions have now begun to focus more heavily on Indigenous voices, instead of the educated, white writers of the old guard. Such as American literature is deeply influence by their distinct history, Canadian Literature is as well. Some might say that our lack of a Great Canadian Novel is a detriment to our literary legacy, however a Canadian Hemingway would always be leaving out certain voices and experiences and should not be lauded for being a voice of a generation as some writers are.

Intervening Strategies

Our conference team focused on researching about regionalism and especially its importance in Canadian literature. We started out with the question “What happened to regionalism, what happened to place and location in Canadian literary studies?” Through our research we found out that there is a lack of unity in Canada as a nation and due to the rapid globalization, where regional literature is placed becomes a question. Although there may be challenges and difficulties, a few possible strategies have been suggested to keep some of the regionalism in a piece of literature.

The question of whether physical place is important in telling the stories has been brought up in our dialogue. Many shared their thought that although having a physical place and location as a home can give power to the narratives, it is not necessary. Indigenous peoples have been displaced from their land, and colonial power taken away, but people cannot take away the narratives that are tied it. Alison Calder’s regionalism intervention as well as many of the other bibliographies we listed, suggest Canadian literature should do a better job of representing Canadian culture and life. Regionalist literature in Canada has tended to focus on the stereotyped Canadian, and often does not take into consideration the multiculturalism and numerous minorities of Canada. This needs to be broadened so that literature extends outside the confines of those stereotypes. Indigenous communities especially, as the first residents of Canada, deserve to have their place in the regionalist literature.  One way to potentially keep some of the regionalism in a piece of literature is to keep some of the indigenous words during translation, which forces the reader to mentally locate the text in that specific culture, as well as prompts them to look up the words and potentially learn more about the region in process.

Questions for Further Research

So where do we go from here? Based on our research, what specific areas can we focus on for further research? First, we can look at how words change meaning when they are translated into other languages. To do this, we will need to have an intimate understanding of the cultural context that generate these words and their meanings. We will also need to find commonalities between cultures and their meanings. To do this, we will need to study the deeply held values that work in the background and find overlap between different cultures. In other words, we will need to study the intersections between universally held core values and how these values are expressed in language. This is how we will understand what people actually mean in what they say. A possible research question in this vein may be what are the commonalities and differences between how the Haida express their respect for their natural environment and people in rural Manitoba communities? What are the words they use to capture this and how do these words compare to words used by other communities?

Second, we can study the “natural characteristics” and geographic qualities that give regionalist literature it’s unique flavor. We can look for commonalities and differences amongst these, and try to find themes. We can also look at regionalism in other non-Western countries to see what similarities and differences exist between them. For example, does literature from more “collectivistic” cultures emphasize culturally unique nuances in social relations more than Canadian literature?

Third, we can study the relationship between globalization and regionalist literature. For example, are they negatively correlated – i.e. does regionalism decrease as globalism increase? We can do a cross-cultural analysis to see if there is a stable pattern between the two or if the relationship is culturally specific.

Fourth, we can look at how regionalist literature has changed with the country. For example, we can study how the various stages from aggressive assimilation to the current multiculturalism have been expressed in regionalist literature in Canada. Do groups such as the Metis or Indigenous peoples emphasize their geographical setting more in times of heightened oppression compared to times of higher prosperity and freedom? We can research other regions aside from the Canadian prairies to see if Cadler’s concern that regionalism is dying can be applied to other areas as well. Perhaps, for example, regionalism has grown in B.C. rather than declined.

Finally, we can look at Frye’s “garrison mentality” claim to see if we can find evidence of it in today’s globalistic world. Are more isolated communities located in more harsher climates more regionalistic than those in, for example, southern B.C.?