Welcome to this blog! Here you can join me on my Distance Education adventures, and learn more about Canadian literature as part of the UBC course ENGL 470A: Canadian Studies: Canadian Literary Genres, as taught by Dr. Erika Paterson.
This course will examine Canadian literature, storytelling and stories. As a country with a settler-colonial history, Canadian literature and storytelling is grounded in both Aboriginal traditions and those of the settlers. As a former European colony, Canada’s literature has strong roots in the trends and traditions of European literature. This course will cover all of these literary traditions, and how they interact with one another.
Who am I? My name is Merriam, and I am in my final semester of my undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Arts in Human Geography. For most of the semester I will rooted in Winnipeg, Manitoba (and jealously reading the temperature forecasts for the Lower Mainland!). This class comprises the one of two electives I am taking this term (both online). The other is about Victorian literature, which I think will add context to my studies in this course.
All complaining about the weather aside, Winnipeg is a really great place, and I am excited to be located here while I am taking this course. There is a fair amount of progressive action happening here regarding Indigenous issues, and various institutions here, such as the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Arbiter Publishing Ring publishing house, and the University of Winnipeg (see below) are part of that.
One of the many cultural focused murals in Winnipeg. This one is entitled “Medicine Wheel Mural”. Designed and produced by Jackie Travers in collaboration with Art City, Winnipeg.
As I chose to take this course voluntarily (out of an interest in the subject matter), I found the debate presented in the comments section in this article by CBC (about the mandatory indigenous studies course requirement newly instated at the University of Winnipeg) interesting (for a counterpoint argument regarding this issue, see Josh Dehaas’ article in Maclean’s). I’m not sure where I stand on this matter.
The last five books by Canadian authors that I have read are: In The Skin of a Lion (in progress) by Michael Ondaatje; The Handmaid’s Tale (a re-read for a UBC course last year) and MaddAdam, both by Margaret Atwood; The Book of Negros, by Lawrence Hill; and Three Day Road, by Joseph Boyden. Many of these choices have been informed by the books nominated on the CBC show Canada Reads. I think that the authors included in this selection are a good representative sample of Canada’s demographics, and it will be intriguing to consider these books, in terms of genre and literary traditions, after I have finished this course.
What I look forward to in this course is the study of literature through both historical and contemporary lenses, as well as looking at stories through intersectional lenses. I am excited about the blogging component, as I believe being able to engage in course content concisely and critically on New Media platforms is a useful and transferrable skill. I expect to become more competent at blogging, and more importantly, have a stronger ability to critically assess how the intersections of history, culture, power, and race reflect in how Canadian literature is both read and produced.
- A note on terminology – I will be using the terminology guidelines set by the First Nations Studies Program at UBC, which can be found here.
Works Cited
CBCBooks. “Canada Reads 2016 Longlist”. CBC Books. CBC/Radio Canada, n.d. Website. January 12th, 2016.
CBC News. “University of Winnipeg makes indigenous course a requirement”. CBC News, Nov. 20, 2015. Website. January 13th, 2016.
Dehass, Josh. “Why Indigenous Studies Shouldn’t Be Mandatory”. Maclean’s, Feb. 23, 2012. Website. January 13th, 2016.
First Nations Studies Program. “Terminology”. indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca. University of British Columbia, 2009. Website. January 12th, 2016.
Jackie Travers and Art City. “Medicine Wheel Mural”. 2012. Mural painted on side of building. Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Paterson, Erika. ENGL 470A: Canadian Studies: Canadian Literary Genres. University of British Columbia, Jan. 2016. Web. January 13th, 2016.
University of Winnipeg Students’ Association. “Indigenous Credit Requirement (ICR)”. University of Winnipeg Students’ Association, n.d. Web. January 13th, 2016.