Literature in Canada 2.0
A surrounding of mine during the Winter Break that was aesthetically pleasing.
Hello! Welcome to my English 470: Our Home and Native Land blog. My name is Jessica and this will be my second time in Dr. Paterson’s class, the first was in my second year where I had the pleasure of taking English 222: Literature in Canada. What drew me to this course is the unique ability to contribute comments to the class anytime via blog entries or Facebook discussion.
A bit about me: I am a fourth year English Lit major and Art History minor student. I have lived in Vancouver basically all my life and grew up on the North Shore. As I discovered in my earlier CanLit course, I didn’t really know much about Canadian literature other than the fact that I generally didn’t enjoy it. This has since changed and I have embraced more literary options that bear a tiny red maple leaf on the spine in a community library. I like reading, writing, and looking at things (vague, I know but “things” encapsulates the problematic term “art” and additionally applies to Buzzfeed, HBO, and surroundings). I have been working full-time as a custom picture framer (yes, it’s a weird job) for the past 20ish months in addition to school because it is fun and I get to look at a lot of “things”. Fingers crossed that I am able to post as frequently as I would like.
What I am looking forward to exploring further is the idea that Canadian literature is often bound with the experience of being in Canada. Whether it be tales of exploration and depictions of the land (this was my initial impression of “Canadian” literature), stories of immigration, dystopian futures, novels unofficially referencing the city of Vancouver, or First Nations impacts (impacted upon and consequent reactions), I have loosely formulated the perception that the CanLit “canon” is coherent only to the point that its products are inspired by something to do with being here… in Canada. This seems like an obvious definition to me now as I edit this post but I hope to work on it as the course progresses.
References
Esposito, Brad. “18 Signs You’re the Youngest Person in the Office.” BuzzFeed. 7 Jan. 2014. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. <http://www.buzzfeed.com/bradesposito/signs-youre-the-youngest-person-in-the-office>.
Taylor, Timothy. “The Blue Light Project.” The Blue Light Project. 25 Mar. 2011. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. <http://www.timothytaylor.ca/books/blue-light-project>.
Hi Jessica – what a treat to be working with you again – I just spend a bit time of time browsing your blog from English 222 2011 – how very interesting for me to re-read your comments on our lectures! Thanks for linking it in – and again, happy to see/read you here! Will come back with more comments for your intro blog, just wanted to stop and say “hello.”
Hi Jessica, your perception of the CanLit canon got me thinking about Michael Ignatieff and his skewering in political attack ads for being either an elitist, overly-ambitious, or, subtly, not a real Canadian (evidenced in the “just visiting” theme). The first article (below) makes the case that it wasn’t about Ignatieff not being in Canada, but that he had become too cosmopolitan. I think it was a little of both, and I think they’re very much related here.
But regardless of the politicking, your perception of the CanLit canon as wrapped up in being somewhere (which I agree is a pervasive element in construction of the canon) raises questions not just about what is in the canon but who is in the canon (literary, political, etc.). Is Michael Ignatieff – author, academic – a ‘real’ Canadian? Can his works be part of the Canadian literary canon even if he is effectively barred entry to the Canadian political canon? Even more problematic, what about those who are deemed to be in Canada, and Canadian, but actually hold different citizenship – I’m thinking of storytellers and authors of the Iroquois Nation (second article)?
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2011/04/worthwhile_canadian_candidate.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/iroquois-lacrosse-team-denied-visas-by-u-k-1.869901
Hi Jessica,
I really loved reading your blog post for a few reasons, one being that I always love meeting and starting dialogues with fellow English Literature majors, we often seem to view life as a narrative and I find that fascinating. I also really liked the way you phrased Canadian Literature: “What I am looking forward to exploring further is the idea that Canadian literature is often bound with the experience of being in Canada.” I too have found Canadian Literature to be a bit more of a chore in the past and look forward to viewing the genre in a completely new way. I like the idea of it being important to “be” in Canada and read this literature. It makes the genre so applicable and also so important to us as Canadian citizens. I look forward to learning about our history, the dark parts and the redeeming parts, in order to have a better understanding of what it means to be Canadian and be in Canada at this point in history.
Just as a side note, I took a Canadian literature course at the University of Victoria during my first year of studies and it was through this that I found my favourite modern Canadian author Miriam Toews. She was raised as Mennonite in Manitoba and went on to write fiction about the Mennonite culture and breaking free of it later in life. My favourite book of hers is called “A Complicated Kindness” but she has written many other wonderful novels. If you’re interested you can cruise her titles here: http://www.randomhouse.ca/authors/55356
Finally, I think you raise interesting questions about who we deem Canadian. How can we discriminate someone like Michael Ignatieff based on politics? Do we consider members of the Iroquois Nation Canadian? I would have to say yes! I think one of the points of this course is to broaden our understanding of what it means to be Canadian and to write literature that carries history about our country in its narratives. The questions you posed aren’t easy questions to answer and I won’t attempt to debate them here, I’d rather us gain more knowledge about the course and continue the discussion as we broaden our scopes of understanding. Great post! Look forward to chatting with you.