Parts of Canada:
- Ottawa
- Alberta
- Saskatchewan
- British Columbia
- Yukon
- Northwest Territories
- Quebec
- Newfoundland
- Nova Scotia
- New Brunswick
Margaret Atwood: Survival
(a collection of
essays discussing individual literary works; it links them with the question of
Canadian identity; she discusses that Canadian literature is not merely an
extension of British and French literature but that there is a special
Canadinness of this literature)
Canadinness = a
typically Canadian content of the literary work
Margaret Atwood:
Canadinness alone
cannot be decisive when trying to define the Canadian national and spiritual
elements because literary work should be more than nationalistic. In Canadian
literature, the defeat is of a far greater importance (of Canadian history,
various explorers, military leaders) than the success of Canadinness. We can
speak of the myth of defeat (setting, history, social development).
In 1991, Atwood
published a sequel to her book of essays Survival entitled Strange
Things. In this book, she says that the question of the Canadian identity
and literature, if it at all exists, are non-questions because the identity and
literature have ascertained itself internationally and she gives a metaphor
with a dog who is trying to catch its tail ® Canadian
literature does exist but it is difficult to explain. She sees Canadian
literature as established.
In Canada, there
have always been two major groups of literary critics:
1st group stresses
the national features of Canadian literature from 19th century onwards.
- Susanna Moodie
- Bliss Carman
Canada is different from
America.
Canadian writers should concentrate on Canadian literature. These critics were
very patriotic.
Northrop Frye took the side of the so-called
'nationalists'. In his book The Bush Garden (1971), he defined a
Canadian identity. He was Atwood's teacher. Even Frye stresses that Canadian
features are indeed important in any literary text in Canada, but at
the same time, these features have to contain high aesthetic norms and values.
Frye talks about
the 'colonial schizophrenia' - the Canadian writers are split between British
and new Canadian values. Cultural cringe - pro-British orientation
Frye goes on to
say that the pioneers who came to Canada and gradually settled the
bush, wilderness, had an experience of 'utter dread' because of the terrible
loneliness and isolation. He says that Canada was settled and civilized in
a less usual way than America
and Australia.
Frye looks at the
history of the settlement. He says that in America, there was a constant
desire to reach the 'last frontier' which was in the west. This was a very
physical and geographical notion, however, this concept of expansion, after the
settlement of the wild west, was extended from the physical to the metaphysical
level. The spirit of expansion remained on a spiritual level. He draws a
parallel with Canada.
Historically, Canada was settled by building military forts (each of them had a
garrison) ® Frye developed
the idea of 'the garrison mentality' (new settlers lived in an isolated small
space in which they wanted to preserve values; they didn't take this
environment as part of their new environment; they wanted to be separated from
the wilderness ® Canadian
literature is very different from the literature and values of America). They
were failures in Canada
and were trying to transform the world by trying to keep their personal
integrity. Since these Canadian figures are failures, they are also not
specifically individualistic. They are closer to an average person, coming to
an everyday situation. Just because of that, Canadian literature can be, for
the average people, more interesting than American.
The British
political and cultural influence has been replaced by the American influence.
Some writers have become concerned with this great Americanization of Canadian
culture and literature. Both, Survival and The Bush Garden
are important as they are both anti-American. Frye is more anti-American than
Atwood.
Atwood's view:
Americanization of
Canadian literature is a great potential danger but very frequently, the
Canadians tend to look for the weaknesses of their own literature. Canadians
should have a positive vision on the modern world. In most of her books, she
criticized the raw materialism and anarchic liberalism in economy. The
protagonists are mostly women. All of her women characters at a certain point
decide to take a new path, to look back critically on the past.
Some critics claim
that Atwood is a feminine author. Her heroines feel threatened in the society
in which they live. They try to change and criticize themselves rather than be
critical of the society.
Internationalist Marshall McLuhan:
He is important
because he introduced the concept of the so-called 'global village'. He
defines the post-national character of a particular literature or culture. He
used the term 'global village' in two books:
- The Mechanical
Bride
- The Guttenberg
Galaxy
Margaret Atwood:
In her book of
essays Second Words, she says that
Canada is now a better place for a writer to work in. There is no need for the
writers to leave the country and go elsewhere (ex-patriotism). Canada has developed
in a 'real country' (specific cultural identity and literature). She says
ironically that in Canada one can succeed as a writer despite the fact that
'one is English or dead'. In Canada, she misses a greater self-confidence,
enthusiasm, optimism and belief in its own creative power and potential, a
feeling of belonging to a certain national entity. She sees these features as
she sees them in America. She feels that Canadian national identity, as
expressed in literature, is no longer under a question mark - it does exist. It
has been asserted especially through the works of Canadian writers.
We (Canadians)
reject the two extremes:
- the
nationalistically oriented society and literature (it tends to develop into
isolationism)
- a completely
international (open) and transnational culture and literature
The balance
between these two concepts has to be found. In 1988, free trade agreement was
signed between US and Canada. Some see it as a danger to Canadian nationality,
the others hailed it as a very positive phenomenon. Atwood sees it as a
pragmatic move of the Canadian government.
The settlement
(continuation):
In America, the
settlement was carried out in waves (individual cities). In both countries, the
settlement started in the east and moved to the west. In 17th century, colonies
were founded. They tried to copy the English civilization. In 1608, the French came to Canada. Canada
had been settled before with native people - Inuits and the Indians. The white
settlers rejected to give right to the native people. In Canada, the settlers
were eager to discover its natural resources and potential (farming, mining,
fishing). Very soon, in 2nd part of 17th century, (before the American
independence) the fighting was breaking out between the French and the British.
The British were more successful, so that in 1759, the English practically made the French admit the British
rule in Canada.
1763 - capitulation of the French
The French were
using the Indians in the wars.
At that time, the
English decided to give the French certain rights (language - being equal to
English; Roman Catholic Church - the leading church in Canada). The English
admitted the French many important rights. The period of settlement was made in
individual cities ('garrison mentality' - Frye - narrowness and isolation that
governs the Canadian minds).
1778 - Britain signed a peace treaty with France because they
wanted to have French as their allies in their war with America.
1776 - America's independence. During the war and the declaration,
many refugees appeared in various colonies in America. They fled to Canada
(increase the population).
2nd major influx
of refugees was during the Civil War. Towards the end of 18th century, the
British divided Canada into two parts:
- Upper Canada
- Lower Canada
The French
province Quebec was given less political freedom because the British were
afraid that the French influence would become too strong. Towards the very end
of the 18th century, Canada was divided by the British into Lower Canada and Upper
Canada.
In the beginning
of 19th century, there was a post-colonial war (1812 - 1814). Many immigrants
came from the US to Canada (more than a million - political reasons).
They were pro-British (they wanted to remain under the British rule).
During the 1st
half of the 19th century, many economic migrants started to come (from Ireland
and Scotland). The mining was no longer successful. There was great famine and
poverty. These were the peasants who did not own the land in Ireland and
Scotland, but if they did, they went bankrupt. In 1850s, economic migrants
from Europe (the continent) started to come (Germany, Italy, Habsburg Empire).
The economic growth was noticeable in Canada. New parts of Canada were settled
(North, North-West). There was a famous gold rush (also in the US and
Australia). The visible symbol of the economic growth was the transcontinental
railway (connection between the West and East seas). It represents the unity of
Canadian provinces. In early Canadian literature, the building of the railway
symbolizes a myth (of unification, political power).
The British had to
suffer another shock to their imperial mind. In 1867, the Canadian provinces
passed the law on the self-governing of the provinces, which represents a
declaration of independence of Canada. The North
American Act was not recognized immediately by the British. The Canadians
had to wait until 1882, when the British Parliament did finally recognize
Canada as an independent part of the British empire - Canada Act. The political representative of the Queen between
Britain and Canada is a Governor General
and has little executive power.
Despite the
official political independence, there was still a period of colonial
dependence and links with Britain. Whenever Britain was in war, Canadians and
Australians had to participate (South Africa - the Boer War - they were
fighting the Afrikaans). They also participated in WW1 and WW2.
The native
population in Canada:
- Inuits (the
Eskimos)
- Indians
- Metis (people of
mixed origin - half French and half Indian)
Metis were
politically much more organized than the Inuits and wanted more rights to be
given to them. There was a Metis rebellion led by Louis Riel (towards the end
of the 19th century).
Indians became
politically organized and conscious only after WW2, when they wanted to have
political rights. They also organized several rebellions, which had to be
suppressed by the federal troops.
The Inuit
population has been less visible on the political scene until recently. They
are still waiting to be recognized. Some changes were made for the Eskimos in
1971 - multiculturalism - the policy of equal opportunities.
Population in
Canada:
- 1/3 of British
origin
- 1/3 of French
origin
- 1/3 native
peoples and other migrants from Ireland, Scotland, Germany, the Netherlands,
Italy
In 1977, a special
Act was passed regarding the citizenship which requires from the new
immigrants: new immigrants have to live in Canada for 3 years, they have to
know basic facts about Canada and English language.
About 1/5 of the
population is bilingual (English, French). The French in Quebec has a special
accent - Franglais.
A great
concentration (80 %) of the population is concentrated in the provinces Quebec,
Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The big cities are: Toronto, Montreal,
Vancouver, Ottawa (the capital).
The literature
The colonial
period is characterized by poetry -
the major genre.
The problem of
publishing:
We encounter it in all colonial countries. They had to depend on the publishers
and distributors. Publishers were interested in selling their books.
Features:
- themes:
Canada from an exotic point-of-view (falsification
- the common feature of all the early colonial writing). They describe it from
the European point-of-view. They reflect: - the fear of the European, unknown,
"Other"
-
fascination with Canadian savage wilderness, the Indians, the Inuits
- Canadian
painting: You see the landscapes of Canada which do portray the individual
parts of Canada, but they seem to be painted as Scotland (in a totally English
way).
- It was shorter.
- short stories
(short, it carried the message)
- The readers'
intellectual level was low. The writers were more able to appeal to people's
emotions, rather than intellect, to keep the readers in attention for a short
period of time.
- Many of the
educated writers were English. They tried to transplant their own native
culture, literature and architecture to the Canadian reality - falsification.
Along with the
poetry, there were also several travel-logs published. These were semi-literary
accounts, diaries of a particular person who came to Canada (important
geographically, politically and literary).
Novels were very rare, but a few individual novels are quite
interesting and quite good.
John Richardson: Wacousta
(1832)
It is contemporary
because we can compare it with the best fiction produced in England in this
period (the end of the Romantic period).
Richardson was a
British soldier. In the novels, he was able to en-corporate the wars that he
knew (French-Indian, British-Indian) - the actual facts. He is a very typical
romantic writer who was not a writer by profession. He wanted to create a historical novel (actual historical
material - the wars). His novels are considered historical romances (many facts are invented, there is a code of chivalry). There is a strong
link with Sir Walter Scott (the code of medieval chivalry).
In the very
beginning of the 19th century, writers became interested in the native
population of Canada (the Indians and the Eskimos). There were explorers Simon
Frazer and John Franklin (they traveled north). They wrote about the Indians
and the Inuits. These natives were made quite popular. They were seen from a
romantic point-of-view as noble savages.
In Richardson's
novel, the natives are noble savages and are described as much better than the
whites.
Noble savage is a romantic ideal - the natural man
(closer to nature ® better, uncorrupt
by nature).
John Richardson
(Wacousta) - the very first Canadian born novelist
He was a military
officer in various periods of his life. In 1832, he wrote Wacousta (abridged
publication) that bought him fame. In 1987, Wacousta was published in an
unabridged original version. It is a novel that speaks about the relationship
between the Indians and the white people - "frontier novels". The
main protagonist is a man who is a representative of the 19th century Byronic hero (Byron).
Byronic hero:
- may have
criminal intentions
- relatively likable
- want to carry out some kind of
revenge
He is a typical
romantic figure. He used Wacousta to hide his real identity. Gradually, we
learn about his intentions. He wants to take revenge upon a certain person,
called De Haldimar, because this person has done him wrong in Scotland (they
are now both in Canada). In Scotland, Wacousta was a nobleman in love with a
certain woman. De Haldimar made him lose his land - he was forced to go to
exile (Canada).
There is an Indian
Pontiac, a noble character, a much better character than any of the so-called
civilized white characters. Pontiac epitomizes the "noble savage". In
the end, he is led by Wacousta to destroy two forts (Canadian), where the white
settlers are and also De Haldimar. The two forts represent the civilisation and
are eventually destroyed. (the whites - evil, negative, corrupt)
It is a gothic novel, because of its
preoccupation with evil, sin, dark gothic atmosphere.
Parallels: Walter
Scott - Richardson
the genre of the so-called
historical novel - romance
Susanna Moodie
(Roughing it in the Bush) - born in Britain, migrant writing
J. F. Cooper -
frontier literature
- a typical gothic
element = landscape (the Canadian landscape is very ominous, fear inspiring,
the physical landscape shows the mind of a person - character)
- a gothic novel -
popular in 1750 - 1830 (pre-romantic and romantic period)
Wacousta:
He is a typical
gothic character - because of duality. On one hand, he appears as being a very
positive character, on the other hand, his vengeance, dark, evil thoughts. He
is diabolical figure.
Pontiac is
described as so positive, much better than the civilized white settlers. The
novel ends tragically.
Wacousta is thus a
typical romantic hero who, above all, stresses his individuality (and this is a
typical romantic feature). Richardson is not completely in favor of this
romantic cult of individuality. He feels that it should be controlled and
balanced by moderation (reason). If it is not controlled and balanced, then it
ends in destruction as it does for Wacousta.
Some critics said
that the novel is more about Europe, about the gothic values, but actually, it
is about Scotland.
All the features
are true for all the colonial literature writers.
Transcendentalists
Richardson speaks
about the natural beauty of Canada and propagates the romantic concept of going
back to nature.
Early colonial
writers (naïve views) were interested in Indians and they saw them in a rather
romanticized way as the noble savages. The more realistic image appeared
towards the end of the 19th century.
- till now = rival
Metis - written by
the natives themselves
A few non-native
writers write about the Indians.
Rudy Wiebe:
He wrote a popular
novel The Temptation of the Big Bear (the need of the white to accept their
native legends).
It is in favor of
their culture.
He feels that
white settlers must follow their heritage, because only in this way they can
"learn" the landscape (they become one with the land) - they came
there as migrants.
The question
remains whether people (non-native) can really revive the Indian myths and
legends and if it is acceptable.
CANADIAN NOVELISTS
- John Richardson –
wrote the major gothic novel called Wacousta
- Susanna Moodie –
her best known novel is called Roughing
It in the Bush
John Richardson
WACOUSTA can be linked with the frontier literature written by J.F.
Cooper and is a gothic novel.
The author labeled
it as a romance but the setting is very true to life. The novel also mentions
the natives seen as 'noble savages' – uncivilized but nobler than the white
settlers.
The novel reflects
the duality of the human physic. The landscape contains evil that represents
the evil that the main character called Wacousta fights against. Wacousta is a
romantic Byronic hero (we do not know much about him but he has criminal
intentions). He tries to take vengeance upon a man who had done him wrong back
home in Scotland. This man is called De Haldimar and is stationed in a fort (a
part of the garrison). So Wacousta directs his evil intentions upon the whole
fort. In a sense the fort becomes the emblem of the European life and influence
that needs to be destroyed.
Wacousta is a
split personality (a divided self) between his individual vengeance and the
requirements of the society. And what Richardson shows his readers is the final
destruction of Wacousta. By that he wants to say that people like him are
highly individual (and this individuality is a value) but when pushed to the
extreme this individuality becomes destructive. As a result Wacousta destroys
himself. Richardson suggests new romantic individuality limited with
moderation.
Richardson was
very successful with this novel but he never again managed to repeat it. The
rest of his works are intended to become best-sellers (pot boilers) and
practically all of them follow the same model: describing evil that is in the
white settler rather than in the native. This black and white painting made his
later novels less interesting.
Susanna Moodie
She came from
England with her husband with the early Canadian settlers and is considered to
be one of the first if not the first Canadian woman writer.
In her early
period she presented more pro-British notions, but in her later works she
identified herself with her new country. She wrote for a number of Canadian
magazines such as ‘The Literary Garland’. In her work, she uses various
literary genres: gothic horror and romance, humor, local-color sketches,
anecdotes etc.
She was the first
woman to stress the difficulty of survival for a woman in this wild
environment. She concentrates on her women characters coping with this new
environment. They are mothers and wives but they also have professional
ambitions (writers).
One of her
drawbacks in some of her works was her passion for spreading the Protestant
religion. Therefore she, among other things, took a very strong anti-slavery
(abolition) stance.
She told the women
coming to the new country not to be conformists. She said that in this new land
class and mobility do not count for much. But she did stress democracy and the
importance of education, esp. for women. She said education was what would give
them power in the society (rather than being a part of some class).
In her second
stage of her creativity (1850s, 1860s) she took a very strong anti-colonial
stance. She stood for the Canadian right to have its own government (colonial
political reform).
Unlike John
Richardson she does not use the natives in her works although most of the
writers of this period do include the discussion of the natives.
POETRY
Confederate poets believed Canada
should become a federation of its various parts. They lived in the second half
of the 18th century. The very first author of this movement was Oliver Goldsmith. He is considered to
be the beginner of the Canadian poetry (with the poem ‘The Rising Village’).
Some other important
authors were Isabella V. Crawford,
Archibald Lampman, Sir Charles Roberts and William Bliss Carman.
What is interesting about this poetry
is that it shows a certain delay of the European pre-romantic movement. The
authors concentrated on nature: the landscape they portrayed was harsh on one
hand but beautiful on the other. The poems talked about the vast open expense
of the prairies and man’s loneliness.
This Oliver
Goldsmith was the grandnephew of the English Oliver Goldsmith who wrote ‘The
Deserted Village’. He (Oliver from Canada) describes the moving of frontier
towards the west. He is considered the very first native Canadian poet.
Village poetry is
the poetry in which nature is the central theme but ‘a village’ also becomes
very important.
Colonial period:
This period can be
compared to British pre-Romanticism. Nature is a predominant theme
(neo-classical form). By the 2nd half of the 17th century, artistic value
rapidly increased in poetry. Other poets can be considered Romantic poets.
The main themes:
- struggle to
survive in the hostile Canadian environment (physical struggle)
- man's loneliness
- the beauty of
the Canadian countryside
- fear of the
unknown (it is related to the natives): They see them as savages, violent
people, not as noble savages.
The form of the
poems:
At the beginning:
- simple
- doggerel verse
(Goldsmith) - it consists of couplets
Crawford: relaxed,
romantic form (to express their intimate, private feelings)
Goldsmith: He
describes the village as an ideal (concept of the English village - it was
considered epitome of civilization).
village (idyllic -
sincere people) vs. city
mythopoesis: It is
present in Canadian poetry. Poets deliberately set out to create myths in
poetry. They felt that Canada was without myths and that every country needs
myths with which people can identify.
Isabella Crawford wrote poems but
also started experimenting with short stories. In them, she expresses the
hardships of the early pioneers. These pioneers became legendary mythical
figures. Canadian people can identify with them. She published her work in
newspapers (2nd half of the 19th century). Her work was relatively well-known
in Europe (England).
Sir Charles
Roberts
started with poetry but then switched to writing fiction. He is the beginner of
the Canadian fiction.
Short stories were
much more popular than novels because:
- the readership -
readers were not well educated, they wouldn't be able to concentrate on the
novel
- publications -
in newspapers, magazines - easily published; The publishing market was
controlled by the British publishing houses (novels were published in Britain).
Roberts developed
a very specific type of the Canadian short story. In his stories, the main
character is an animal with human characteristics. This became a very popular
game in Canadian fiction (E.T. Seton - a Canadian author - he has been the most
extensively translated author; animals as protagonists).
Confederate poets brought in Canadian poetry three
different approaches:
·
the narrative
approach:
Many almost epic poems are produced. Even many lyric poems are not devoid of
narrative elements (there is always a kind of plot, story, message that a poet
wants to convey to the reader).
·
the anecdotal
attitude:
Poets frequently use a certain anecdote for a starting point to make something
more interesting.
·
the insistence on
the local
- 'local color': The insistence is on vernacular. The term 'local' has a
positive value (term 'regional' can also be used): e.g. William Faulkner
(American author) is a regional author.
Ted Hughes:
He uses a similar
technique like Roberts (he moves into the psyche of the animals in order to see
from their prospective).
Charles Roberts:
He was the first
author to have started to mythologize Canada. He saw the landscape (flora and
fauna) as more than just the physical presence (place). He saw the geographical
feature (lakes) as the possibility to express with them some sort of
transcendence (= the element of the divine). This is not just a religious
element - it should be understood in pantheistic sense. The pantheistic
approach is a Romantic approach and is typical of other confederate poets as
well. Roberts is in contrast with Oliver Goldsmith. Roberts' physical landscape
becomes a reflection of his soul.
Archibald Lampman:
He is a typical
Romantic poet who described the beauty of nature (country) vs. the corruption
of the city. He introduced the natives for the first time in his poetry. In
many of his poems he describes the clash between the native Indian and the
white settler culture.
William Bliss Carman:
He is a Romantic
author. He wrote long meditative poems which are sometimes written in the form
of dramatic monologues. He was influenced by a Victorian author Robert Brown.
He has the pantheistic approach seeing the beautiful, natural sights of Canada,
the manifestation of God, transcendence. He is like John Keats, concerned with
questions of death, life, love, mortality. He is excited at seeing the
beautiful landscape.
Robert Service:
He grew up in
England and Scotland and then moved to Canada. He wrote several collections of
poems. For the first time, he wrote about the lower social classes. He uses
humorous approach and irony.
Duncan Campbell Scott:
He can be
considered a Canadian Victorian author. He is famous for the introduction of
Indian themes. In his narrative poems, he used Indian legends. He described
them as race on a verge of extinction. He saw them in an idealized, naïve,
positive Romantic way. He also addresses the question of how to reconcile
western civilization, which the immigrants brought with them from England, and
the native culture. In his On the Mission,
he shows the spreading of religion. He sees the missionaries in Canada as
merely representing the economic greed and interests of the white members. Missionary
work brings only disaster, death to the Indians. This poem is a ballad because
of dark, gloomy atmosphere.
Rudy Wiebe:
He is a
contemporary author. He wrote The
Temptations of Big Bear. He also speaks of the Indians. He sees them as a
very positive presence in Canada. He feels that the white contemporary
Canadians should learn from the Indians in order to understand the land better.
The Indians have the intuitive link with the land. He feels that the white
settlers should also establish that. He thinks that the white settlers see the
land just as the possibility for material exploration - Indians see more than
just that.
Duncan Campbell Scott:
He introduced
Indian themes in confederate poetry.
There are three
groups of Indian myths and legends:
1. texts or tales
that deal with creation (of the world, animals, plants) ® creation of Man. They are animistic.
2. the mysterious:
They are concerned with death and life after death, struggle between the forces
of good and evil.
3. love songs,
rituals (concerning hunting) and war songs
These
subject-matters are present in the works of Archibald Lampman and D.C. Scott.
Oliver Goldsmith: The
Lonely Settler (p. 1)
Goldsmith stresses
the endurance of these early pioneers, their loneliness, how they fought the
savage, dangerous Indians. The poem is full of fear of the unknown (landscape,
Indians). There is the beauty of the landscape. The reasons for going to Canada
were to gain wealth and religious freedom.
In the early 19th
century, many people were dissatisfied with the System and they left Canada.
There are the hardships of the pioneers who settled in the woods and
experienced the solitude.
The poem is long
and descriptive. This makes it pre-Romantic. At times, it is very pathetic,
emotional and also didactic (it tries to teach the readers). The author
addresses the settler to hold on. He concludes the poem by saying that the
settler should remain strong but also religious.
Charles Roberts: The
Skater
(p. 3)
It is a Romantic
poem. It is set in a typical Canadian countryside - winter landscape. The
skater is also a pioneer. He enjoys. The skating (physical entertainment)
becomes a metaphysical search of Man in the new environment in Canada. Not many
didactic elements are used. He combines the physical exploration with the
exploration of one's mind. The message: It symbolically describes Man's wish to
go faster in life, to plunge into the unknown but eventually also the fear of
Man to go to the very end (to live life to the fullest) - physical and
philosophical sense. Skater comes across the woods and is afraid of the unknown
and he turns back. The countryside reflects the speaker's psychic.
Wilfred Campbell: Indian
Summer
(p. 4)
It speaks about
the weather (through the description of the countryside it reflects emotions of
the speaker).
Bliss Carman: Lord of
My Heart's Elation (p. 5)
It is a meditative
poem. The speaker wants to be elevated to a higher emotional state. He stresses
the shortness of life and contrasts the images of day and night. This is one of
the first Christian poems. It is pantheistic (the beauty of the landscape
evokes the presence of God). In it, Man and nature are joined into one.
D.C. Scott: On the Way
to the Mission (p. 6)
It is more
narrative. It speaks about the clash between two worlds (white settlers, who
are dominated by greed - money, and the Indians, who represent a part of the
land, who suffer in this struggle). They are noble savages. They are even
Christianized. They want their dead to be buried.
Robert Service: The
Cremation of Sam McGee (p. 8)
The gold digger
came to the north to prospect for gold. The landscape is much more different
than in Tennessee (much crueler). When he dies, he wants to be cremated in
order to be warm.
E. J. Pratt:
He represents a
younger generation (period between the two wars). His poetry is new in Canadian
cannon because he avoids the 19th century Romantic tradition of poetry and
concentrates on the landscape poetry - long narrative poetry - epic poetry. He
can be compared to the Victorian poetry. If the Confederate poets are today
identified as the beginners of national literature, then Pratt challenged this
concept of literary nationalism and argued that the values of Cosmopolitanism
are more up-to-date.
The Montreal
School: clear, powerful, strong images
They advocated
compression and clarity. Pratt and the Montreal School took these American
inspirations because they felt that this compression and clarity of style is
particularly appropriate to convey in literature the essence of Canadian
experience.
T. S. Eliot: The
Wasteland
He speaks about
the decay of the western civilization and he sees the west in terms of the mind
and the body as a waste land from which no flower will emerge in spring.
E. J. Pratt was
not able to write such poems because Canada was not yet fully established.
There is a great similarity in the usage of form, style.
Pratt is
considered to be old-fashioned. Some critics offer an answer in his
mythopoesis. He deliberately wanted to establish, create myths in Canadian
literature. He feels that a nation has to have a certain myth with which to
identify.
Themes: He chose
very diverse topics from various periods of Canada's history with the intention
to create myths. The topics were specifically Canadian (the building of the
Canadian Pacific Railway, Jesuit missionaries, hardships and the difficult
existence of the fishermen in Newfoundland). Because of his education and of
him being a minister, Christianity is an important theme in his verse. Along
with that, there is this interest in the classical tradition. When he died
(1960s), his death was mourned as that of a national hero.
The Shark (p. 11)
It is made by
Pratt into a symbol of something terrifying, malignant in nature, a creature of
nature, which is more terrifying than a wolf or a vulture because his blood is
cold. Pratt questions the natural forces: wind, water. He says that shark is so
terrifying - there is no human intelligence in him, no emotion.
Pratt is a poet of
landscape, nature. In his poems, nature is even more important, powerful than
Man. The animals (whales, dinosaurs) are better off than man because they do
not think (they can be concentrated on sheer existence). When a person sees
such an animal, he/she becomes aware of how dominant nature is and how fragile
and insignificant Man's life is.
He is fascinated
by power and strength (Titanic). Through mythopoesis he wanted to mythologize
but unlike the Confederate poets, he saw life with irony. He was keen on
bridging the gap between modern science and humanism. Modern science should be
balanced by moral, ethical beliefs.
He is the author
of:
1. lyrical poetry: The Shark: Pratt sees it as more
powerful because it is more primeval (no emotions, no intellect).
2. long narrative
epic poems (myth-making),
3. short stories.
Pratt had very
interesting views on literature:
- He saw ideology
as an important means for a novelist to create.
- He thought that
moral ethic questions should be taken more seriously in consideration.
- He sees
spiritual evolution as a kind of development of the sheer psychological and
scientific evolution.
His short stories
are written in Joycean manner - stream of consciousness, in an illogical way.
He expresses the view that the world can best be perceived not intellectually
but through the sensual experience.
He described the
nature of civilization, forces of nature.
From Stone to
Steel:
He traces the
development from the tribal warfare to the 20th century (1940), when the league
of nations was established. His Christianity becomes strongly expressed. The highest
point that the human race has achieved is the appearance of Christ. For him,
this sacrifice and love for the fellow person is the highest point in spiritual
evolution. He asked himself whether or not the whole purpose of human evolution
has not been lost because Christ was killed.
The Truant:
The truant is a
man in nature in the cosmic process which is, in his view, amoral and without
intelligence. The universe pays no regard to the existence of Man. His view of
cosmos is very melancholic, which he sees as repeating itself. The machine is
gaining metaphor (energy, rhythm, mertia). He is not so pessimistic because the
man has the power, the capacity to choose and possesses the sense of love and
brotherhood (mutual love = agape).
Come away, Death:
It was written
during WW2 when Britain was bombed for the first time. There are
self-destructive impulses at work in Man and the vision of future is somewhat
apocalyptic. Technological savagery comparisons will result in the death of the
civilization. He makes constant comparisons with the past (allusions). This is
intended to create an image that destructive impulse is repeated.
Long narrative
epic poems:
He wrote 10 long
narrative epic poems and each of them deals with a certain phase of the process
of evolution. He is very Canadian (landscape) and universal poet (philosophical
questions).
Titans:
He describes the
power of nature in terms of huge powerful animals (a whale, a giant squid). In
this, he was influenced by Herman Melville's Moby Dick. The poem as the sperm
whale is very reminiscent of Moby Dick, a big white whale which represents
nature, the power of nature, the amoral and mechanistic processes at work,
there is a struggle between a man and an animal. The man is defeated. The whole
ship goes under. Nature is shown as indifferent to Man's fate. After the ship
sinks, the surface of the sea becomes calm as it was before.
Pratt's life
contributed greatly to these poems. He grew in Northern Canada (harsh
environment). There, he became influenced by the nature around him.
Other animals
described in Titans are prehistoric
animals (dinosaurs, apes). To describe a dinosaur in the 20th century situation
is a very anachronistic thing. It cannot survive and finally, he kills himself
by jumping off a cliff.
The Titanic (p. 11)
It was written in
1935. Pratt became fascinated by the struggle of the nature and the
civilization, which is supposed to be a highly advanced one.
There is an irony:
a man can control nature. This splendid sea-worthy ship sinks in a few hours.
He describes the luxury and the technical advancement of the ship, but then
gets to the central metaphor - a poker game. The gambling motive is the central
motive in Man's life. The idea is that people are not the masters of their fate
because each life is a game of poker. He also describes the iceberg, which is
seen as beautiful, natural, powerful and dangerous. It symbolizes the brute
power of nature, which people have tried to master through the advancement of
technology. The crew considers the iceberg not a threat. The crew is too
self-confident, but nature is more powerful and collision with the iceberg is
fatal for the ship.
There is the
instinct of Man's self-preservation in this great desire to survive and to help
other people. The moral choice, in his view, eventually prevails over the
egotistical desires of people, namely, quite a few passengers of various social
layers are described and they are capable of great courage. They become heroes
because they help other people, who are weaker than themselves, to get to the
lifeboats. Frank Davey, a critic, claims that "Titanic is a story of social
responsibility, group action and group heroism".
Brébeuf and His
Brethren
It describes a
French Jesuit from the 17th century, who is sent from France to the so-called
New France to Christianize the Indians there. It is a long narrative, epic
poem. It includes the mythmaking (mythopoesis). This missionary becomes a
mythical figure, a martyr, a hero, who in his attempt to 'civilize' the
Indians, suffers, is tortured and eventually dies together with another brother
of his. He becomes the hero, capable of self-sacrifice, but only as a member of
a certain group (Church). The poem is written in iambic pentameter. It is
divided into 12 sections, each of which describes a certain period of the
Jesuit mission from the establishment to the final destruction. The epic is
based on an actual historical fact (destruction of the mission by the Huron
Indians). Brébeuf is made into a hero (group!).
Ironically, Pratt
also sees their activity as a heroic folly (they were so few and they went to
the Indians).
Towards the Last
Spike
It testifies to
the building of the transcontinental railroad. It aims at the unification of
the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The theme in the process of
building is the struggle of Man and its technological process against the power
of nature, which Man would like to subdue. Here, nature appears in terms of
sheer geographical obstacles (rivers, the Rocky Mountains). A very known passage
from the poem is the description of the final part of the railway, when the
workers have to cross the Rocky Mountains. The bridge is compared to a dragon,
which has to be banished by Man in order to build the railway over its back.
This passage also contains a detailed account of the meal consisting of oats
that the Scots have to eat in order to gain energy to conquer, to defeat the
sleeping dragon. There is the hostility and the bleakness of the Canadian
landscape (northern vision of life).
Pratt was considered
an icon because he created certain myths in literature. During the last three
decades, he has come to be seen as too academic, too intellectual, as someone
who was highly original but that he wrote outside the main stream of the 20th
century modernism. He deliberately disregarded the literary fashions and he was
old-fashioned.
Dorothy Livesay:
She started
writing in 1930s. She is a socially committed poet. She was interested in the
lives of workers. She expresses the sympathy towards the people who lack
general education, because she feels that they cannot develop intellectually as
they could otherwise. In the period from 1930s to 1950s, Christianity was an
important theme. This can also be seen in the poetry of Malcolm Lowry.
Green Rain (p. 10)
She describes the
images of her grandmother. She uses imagery in order to achieve synestesia
effects (these images suggest emotions). She describes how she lived with her
grandmother in spring, her own youth. The only thing that exists is the image
of her youth, her grandmother and the memory. In symbolist poetry, the green
rain also denotes melancholy, sadness. It is a kind of an elegy. It
commemorates the lost youth, the past.
Malcolm Lowry:
Under the Volcano (also a film) (p.
12)
Christ Walks in
This Infernal District Too (p. 12)
It is a poem about
Christianity in a modern context. There is a description of people who are
physically decaying (they live in poverty, dirt, sin). Even nature despises Man
for such a decay.
In Lowry's poems,
we can find people like drunkards, prostitutes, criminals, pimps - people who
suffer the effects of social order. Much of his writing is autobiographical.
Louis Dudek:
He was a Polish
immigrant living in Canada. He tried to combine Marxism and Christianity. He
feels that Christianity is spiritual teaching which can show people how to
organize the world. He juxtaposes the past and the present in Spain and sees
Lorca as a visionary figure who brings beauty and goodness to the world. The
world depends too much on money and immorality.
Garcia Lorca
Evil is loosed
upon world, and people who consider themselves good should join together as one
in order to fight evil. Lorca is also a kind of prophet who links humanity with
Christ.
George Woodcock:
He was an
anarchist. He advocated a totally free society (it can be seen in his verse).
He rejected the power of the state and was influenced by the 'Auden Group'. He
was aware of alienation/split between the individual - the citizen and the
State (personified). He was influenced by W. B. Yeats: The Second Coming (anarchic view). He is considered a regional poet
(he comes from Saskatchewan).
Poem for Garcia
Lorca
(p. 15)
Lorca as an artist
who represented all the positive elements in a man was sacrificed for some
higher goals to remind people of totalitarian system. He represented Spain in
the best possible way.
Al Purdy: Remains of an Indian Village (p. 14)
He is interested
in the colonial period. He supports the native population in their fight for
the recognition of their rights and cultural and national identity. He was
educated and had good university training. He became freelance writer and
traveled through Canada. In his verse, there is a great variety of Canadian
landscape features. He was interested in the Canadian past and evoked the
Canadian colonial past. He was convinced that the white settlers all have a
guilt complex because they almost exterminated the native population.
In the poem
(elegy), he laments that this is an archeological sight, he can hear and
imagine what had happened to the Indians.
James Reaney:
He tries to go
back to the period of 'innocence' of Man (Blake, Wordsworth). He is a
neo-Romantic. He too juxtaposed the past and the present. He works in
dichotomies (innocence vs. corruption, greed vs. happiness, immorality vs.
morality).
The School Globe (p. 16)
The poem
represents a child who attends school. The whole world is represented in a
school.
Alden Nowlan (p. 20)
Robert Kroetsch: Stone
Hammer Poem (p. 17)
Phyllis Webb (p. 18)
Leonard Cohen (p. 21): In his poem, he expresses
Man's dualism (desire to be free and a desire to be down to earth).
the kite - a symbol frequently used in Canada (desire for freedom)
Hugh Hood (short stories)
Margaret Atwood (also writes poems)
Michael Ondaatje: He started as a poet. His poems are
published in The Collected Works of Billy
the Kid.
The tradition of
Canadian poetry consists of long narrative poems (Pratt). In these long poems,
the analysis of the process of writing is often itself the subject of the poem.
The recent 21st century poems show typography: the form of the poem shows
something about the content - colloquial language, they're epigrammatic. There
is an influence of feminism and the Beat Generation (Jack Kerouac).
Short stories
First short
stories were oral and were a part of folklore tradition of Indians and Inuits.
Through oral transmission, these native short stories dealt with the myths and
legends of a particular tribe. These stories are animal and religious stories.
Friderik Baraga -
a Slovene priest who lived in Canada and wrote down the language of the
natives.
Themes in the short stories:
- creation of the
world
- religious
themes: taboos, sacred objects and sacred sights, totems, rituals
- about the earth
(about the natural phenomena: draughts, floods, winds)
- supernatural:
how to control, cut to terms with the sun, the moon and the stars
- relationships
between lovers and between generations
In 19th century, colonial
short stories were written. Canada was still included in the stories by American
authors (Longfellow).
Some of the early
Canadian authors:
- E. T. Seton
- Clark Blaise: He
has a humorous and ironic approach.
- Maris Gallant
- Hugh Hood
- John Metcalf
- Leon Rooke
- John Krizanc (of
Slovene origin): He won the Governor-General Award for his play Prague.
They published the
stories also in USA and Europe before they published them in the Canadian
magazines.
Major novelists (fiction writers):
- M. Laurence
- M. Atwood
- M. Ondaatje
- Dorothy Livesay
They have in
common the theme about women who are oppressed. They struggle and rebel against
the society.
Laurence and
Atwood deal with a process of liberating. They never force on to the reader
their views but just suggest open possibilities.
Laurence:
She was the first
major fiction author in Canada after WW2. She continued to publish up to the
1980s.
She was born in
Manitoba - a small town and soon got her education. Soon after WW2, she went to
Africa with her husband. While in Africa (10 years), her first published works
are about the experiences in Africa. She lived in Somalia and Ghana. Her first
major fictional work was This Side Jordan
(1960).
Then, she started
writing about a fiction town - Manawaka (about Canadian mentality). The region
is very important.
- The Stone Angel (1964): The main
protagonist is a woman called Hagar Shipley. She is 90 years old. She tries to
maintain her independence. She is bedridden most of the time. One of her sons,
with whom she lives, is determined to put her into a nursery home. She doesn't
want to go there and escapes from them and goes up the coast from Vancouver.
There, she spends two days. During that time, she is for the first time in her
life close to nature and close to herself. During that time, she has memories
of her youth and past, which she spent in Manawaka. She tries to come to terms
with her own life. They find her and take her to the hospital. Eventually, she
dies there. She gained an insight into her life and changed to a large extent.
Hagar relives her
life in a series of flashbacks. For the first time, she accepts the negative
aspects of her personality (pride, constant wish to rebel). She realizes that
they proved destructive (for herself and for the people around her). She is
tormented by the memories of her wasted and unhappy life.
She is a tragic
heroine because she knowingly caused her own 'fall' and unhappiness. The
symbolism is the description of the statue of the stone angel (it has no eyes,
erected by Hagar's father) over her mother's grave which symbolizes wilderness
of the Canadian prairie (sightless). This angel is not so much to pay tribute
to the dead wife as it is a sign of sightless pride that the dynasty (new
settlers) proclaimed the right to the new land. This right is sightless.
There is a
biblical allusion as far as her name is concerned (not directly). The allusion
is of a woman (Abraham's wife) who is put to the wilderness where she is
condemned to wander and where she is described as not being free (because of
the society - marriage; philosophical sense - she is described as a toy in the
hands of some greater power).
Hagar realizes
that throughout her life, she refused to give or accept love in relationship
with other people (pride). She married somebody to hurt her family, she did not
give a helping hand to her brother, in her marriage, she did not show affection
for her husband Bram and is sorry for the relationship they had, she refuses to
show the love towards her sons, she tries to shape her sons' lives according to
her own ambition.
There is some autobiographical background:
Margaret Laurence
herself experienced such a strict, severe, oppressive person - her grandfather
(uncommunicative). With the novel, she tried to describe and understand the
older generation of Canadians - pioneers and why they repressed their every
ambition, feeling, emotion. She indirectly comes to the conclusion that this
bleak, hostile environment is what made the then people so 'stone-like'. She
called these old people 'rugged pioneers' (they had to survive in this
environment).
Some critics
emphasized the biblical allusions. They said that it is a novel, in which the
heroine is haunted by guilt. By some other critics, Hagar is compared to
Shakespeare's King Lear, who in his old age is haunted by what he had done
wrong in his life.
At the beginning,
Hagar is described as a very unlikable character, but as she gains insight on
her journey, the reader increasingly sympathizes with her.
There are two
levels of literary significance:
1. the social level:
The
novel represents the tyranny and the oppression of the older generation over
the younger generation. This applied to the Canadian context. Laurence claims
that there is a lack of communication and that both sides should be able to
understand the Other (tolerance) and not to act from their own position.
2. the personal
level:
It is
the psychological level - psychological dilemma (in which every person in
his/her life finds him/herself) of how to establish a 'productive' relationship
with other people. It is important to establish a communication, what you feel
should not be repressed.
Hagar becomes true
to herself.
- A Jest of God:
It
is a sinister novel. The main protagonist is a female Rachel. She is a teacher
who is on the verge of breakdown because of her repressed feelings and emotions.
She is hysterical because she has only contacts with her mother and nobody
else. She is tyrannized by her mother. She can't become liberated. Rachel
starts to feel an urgent need to have children. She is
frustrated. She
falls in love (platonic love) with one of her young pupils. Eventually, she
meets a man - a teacher Nick with whom she falls in love and enters with him
into a sexual and passionate relationship in order to get pregnant. On learning
this, Nick ends the relationship. We learn that just like Rachel is dominated
and fettered by her mother, so is Nick dominated by his father. They both can't
grow up. The end is ironical. Rachel feels that she might be pregnant with
Nick, but in reality she is not because she has a malign tumor. After the operation,
she ironically confesses that she is now a mother (without a child).
Rachel does
achieve a certain liberation - a physical departure from Manawaka and moving to
Vancouver. Rachel takes her mother with her and considers her an adult child.
The whole novel is
a kind of a self-discovery (a psychological journey into herself) - an
introspective journey which leads to the ultimate self-knowledge,
self-acceptance of the heroine.
- The Fire-Dwellers:
It is her very
ambitious work in terms of the narrative technique, length and character
portrayal. It is a study of the urban environment and its effects on the
inhabitants. Because of this, many of the characters are nowadays dated.
- A Bird in the House:
It is about a
pioneer in the bush. He is modeled on Margaret Laurence's grandfather. She
tries to understand him. He is an archetypal figure of the authoritarian old
man whom she hated and disliked, but now, she can understand him better.
- The Diviners:
It features a
woman protagonist Morag who is an orphan. She is raised by the Metis family.
She is an outcast. Laurence shows all the prejudice (racial, social) and
injustices that she saw in Canada at that time (late 1970s). Being an outcast
and failing in her marriage lead Morag to self-discovery, which she achieves
through art. She becomes a writer. Art enables her to gain perspective. The Diviners can be considered a
Kunstler Roman.
Laurence uses many
flashbacks, interior monologues and old photographs that serve her as starting
points to look back to the past. This novel was very successful with the
readers. She received the Governor-General Award.
Her popularity
rests primarily with how she creates a character (the power of the characters).
Atwood's writing
is more given to symbolism, myth, which is a more typical feature of 20th
century Canadian literature.
Themes:
women who struggle
with their personal fears, insecurities, who go through a painful process of
self-examination in order to establish a meaningful pattern in their lives
Laurence:
Laurence's
strength lies in creating fictional characters (portraits of women who go
through a process of self-discovery and self-examination).
Margaret Atwood (1939 - ):
She was born into
a family who spent a lot of time in the bush (Ontario, Quebec). Her father was
a biologist (insects). This influence of the bush - nature is visible in her
novels. Nowadays, she is the most well-known Canadian author. She is seen by
the feminist movement as its important representative. She started writing
poetry, then moved on to the novels and literary criticism. She is very much
different from Laurence as a writer. Atwood goes beyond the creating characters
psychologically. In her works, mythology (symbolism) becomes very important. It
is not unimportant that she was a student of Northrop Frye. This influence is
paramount because she is fascinated by the myths and conventions that lie
behind the objective reality. Her style is very imagistic and elliptical. She
doesn't say too much. Her style is complicated because she sees modern men as
being a prey to continuous fears and paranoia that come from the irrational and
threatening environment. She explores the rational vs. irrational mind. She
feels that the two should come together in some sort of order.
In her novels, she
describes the wilderness of the Canadian landscape. This examination only
serves her as a way to examine the 'wilderness of self'.
Atwood wrote the
journals of Susanna Moodie (19th century pioneer). In the book, Atwood explores
the way Moodie entered and came to terms with the Canadian landscape,
wilderness. Moodie came from England and was defined by Victorian conventions.
She carries the whole world with herself. At the beginning, Moodie (archetypal
woman) projects her nostalgic Victorian views into an alien, hostile landscape.
In doing this, she remains constantly ignorant of the challenges of the new
environment (the challenges represent dangers as well as new possibilities).
Atwood started
writing poetry and only later turned to writing fiction. In poetry, her main
concern is Canada (as a country and as a nation). She explores the complexity
of being a Canadian. Her poems are more Canadian-oriented than her novels,
which are much more about the feminine self that is becoming liberating.
- Two-Headed Poems:
It is about Canada
as a culture with two heads (English-Canadian, French-Canadian). The country is
rather dangerously divided between two cultures (using two different
languages).
From one of her
poems, there is a frequently used quotation: Canadian literature is 'not a
debate but a duet with two deaf singers'.
In her later
poetry (1980s®), she becomes
more interested in the global international context. She sees globalization
(themes: world famine, the threat of the nuclear war, political terrorism) as
potentially very dangerous. According to the critics, she remains 'a typical
Canadian moralist' in claming that modern Man (world) ought to change and
reinvent him/herself.
- The Edible Woman:
It was her first
fictional success (1969). The main protagonist is a woman who is not a pioneer
but a professional woman. She lives in a contemporary consumer society.
In her novels, the
women protagonists are journalists, scientists, writers. They go through a
process of self-discovery because their constructed versions of the self are at
the beginning of each novel undermined (swept off their feet). They experience
the loss of a job, mental breakdown and they have to reexamine themselves.
- Lady Oracle
- Life Before Men
In these novels,
much of Atwood's anger is directed against men. She sees the society as sexist,
male-oriented, in which a woman has to rebel to her man in order to survive and
retain herself.
- Bodily Harm:
The situation of
physical suffering is set in a completely new environment - an unnamed Caribbean
island. The island is hostile because she is new there - she is an immigrant.
The island is politically alien and dangerous for her. She feels that she has
to abandon her original culture, views of reality and that she has to accept
the new reality in order to liberate herself. She has to 'learn the
environment'.
- Surfacing:
It is very
symbolic and typical of her writing. There is the narrator (she is not
identified). She searches the wilderness in the northern Quebec (she is
searching for her father - a botanist who was reported missing). The fact that
she goes to the wilderness means that she has to go to the past. Thus, this
physical voyage to the north represents a retreat into her past and psyche. She
explores not only her own self in relation to her father and the past, but also
the relationship that a modern man has with nature. She sees that modern men
see the nature simply as a possibility to exploit it economically rather than
trying to understand it and find some 'primitive' link, union with it. She
claims that this union is something that the native peoples have but the modern
man has lost. The heroine is trying to reinvent and recreate herself in
relation to her past and in relation to her relationship with nature. She
drowns in order to be born again. There are references to the Americans. She is
critical of Canadians who always put the blame on Americans. She claims that in
many cases, Canadians are the ones to be blamed.
The novel has been
described as a kind of mystical initiation of the heroine to finally become a
shaman (somebody who has visions and can predict things).
- The Handmaid's Tale:
It brought her
great international recognition. There is a female protagonist. It is a
futuristic American society dictated by men. Women are reduced to sexual slaves
who are only there to bear children. The heroine is called Offred. She rebels.
She tries to reinvent herself as a different woman.
- Cat's Eye:
A painter is
depicted and she goes back to her childhood and examines it. In her childhood
and early youth, she experienced many betrayals and cruelties of her female
friends. She has to cope with the past in order to relive.
- The Robber Bride:
It is based on the
Grimm's tale. Atwood tries to reinterpret this fairytale from the female point
of view. It is about three women whose lives are manipulated and controlled by
a fictional character Zenia who all of a sudden surfaces again from the dead.
As such, she represents a challenge of peace for each of these three women. She
had robbed each of the three women of their men. They are now trying to come to
terms with their lives in retrospect. It is about delusion and deception in
life. Zenia is the robber bride.
- Alias Grace:
It is a strange
novel. It is based on an actual 19th century murder case in Upper Canada. A
woman Grace allegedly killed her employer and his mistress. This murder case
had already been described by Susanna Moodie. It is about a murderess. Atwood
wrote a novel about 19th century fears and fantasies about the female murderess.
She explores and meditates on the distortion of the male and female
relationships (was she guilty; in the end, Grace was not sentenced because of
some religious protests).
Atwood also wrote
short stories. They are relatively gothic (the exploration of the psyche).
Michael Ondaatje
He is of Sri
Lankan origin. He comes from a mixed marriage (father - Dutch). In the early
60s, Michael and his mother first moved to England and then to Canada. He is
very international as far as his themes are concerned. But he also speaks about
Canada.
Technique of
writing:
Atwood is more
given to symbolism and lyrical writing and is not very experimental, but she is
traditional. Ondaatje, on the other hand, is much more experimental in form.
Many American critics labeled him as a post-modernist writer. European critics
claim that this label in connection with his work is invented. He uses the
collage technique (music, photos). This technique is present in some of his
early works. Later on, he becomes a realist.
- The Collected Works of Billy the Kid
(1970):
The theme is
totally non-Canadian. It is a mixture of poetry and prose, containing also
photographs and actual historical descriptions anout the American Wild West in
the late 19th century.
- Running in the Family (1982):
It is about his
Sri Lankan descent. It is more traditional in form.
- Coming Through Slaughter:
It is about a
black jazz musician Buddy in New Orleans. Ondaatje tries to write his life. He
includes parts of his music, photographs and his own fictional writing. Buddy
had a difficult life. He becomes too much obsessed with his art and is sucked
in and becomes mad. He is a warning against the identification of art and real
life.
- In the Skin of a Lion (1987):
It is set in
Toronto in the period between the two wars. It is about the migrant who lived
in Toronto. It is written in a traditional way.
- The English Patient (1992):
It
is about the violent nature of English colonialism. He received the Booker
Prize. It is different from the film. The protagonists (also in other novels)
are very unusual and very mixed. There are characters of different
nationalities. It symbolically shows the mixture of Canadian background. The
world is chaotic - there is no order. The world is showed as surreal that you
cannot understand it. The settings are very different. He made the effect of
history and ideology on the people's lives. This history is to be seen in terms
of the post-colonialismqueries (bewithjeevs@gmail.com)
