History of Canadian Literature (History of Literature Series) - Hardcover

New, W. H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0941533549 ISBN 13: 9780941533546

Publisher: New Amsterdam Books, 1989

Synopsis

"A History of Canadian Literature" looks at the work of individual writers and also at the social and cultural contexts that helped shape their preoccupations and helped direct their choice of literary form. W.H. New explains how - from early records of oral tales to the writing strategies of the 1980s - writer, reader, literature, and society are interrelated. New discusses both Aboriginal and European mythologies, looking at pre-Contact narratives and also at the way Contact experience altered hierarchies of literary value. He then considers representations of the "real," whether in documentary, fantasy, or satire; the precedence of historical romance and the social construction of Nature and State; ironic subversions of power, the politics of cultural form, and the relevance of the media to a representation of community standard and individual voice. New suggests some ways in which writers of the later twentieth century codified such issues as history, gender, ethnicity, and literary technique itself. All genres are represented, with examples chosen primarily, but not exclusively, from anglophone and francophone texts. A chronology, plates, and a series of tables supplement the commentary.

About this title

About the Author:

W. H. New is the editor of the critical quarterly Canadian Literature and the author of Articulating West and Dreams of Speech and Violence.

From Library Journal:

New (English, Univ. of British Columbia) has done a marvelous job of detailing the taproots and multiple branches of Canada's English and French literatures, in all their forms. Beginning with Inuit and Indian myths, New charts the development of Canadian literature to early 1987. In the process, he ties many of its themes to the history, politics, and social organization of the emerging nation. A useful chronology links literature and historical events, and a fine bibliography of primarily Canadian sources is also included. New shows clearly that Canada's literature has come of age. Recommended for all academic and most public libraries.
- Terry Skeats, Bishop's Univ., Lennoxville, Quebec
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: New Amsterdam Books
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0941533549
• ISBN 13: 9780941533546
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 8