Transnational Canadas; Anglo-Canadian literature and globalization.

9781554580637

Transnational Canadas; Anglo-Canadian literature and globalization.

Dobson, Kit.

Wilfrid Laurier U. Press

2009

236 pages

$36.95

Paperback

PS8071

The essays in this volume are based on English-language Canadian literature but are mainly concerned with socio-political changes. In short, Canada is having an identity crisis. Dobson (English, Mount Royal College, Calgary) sets the book firmly in a post-colonial, transnational world in which a new definition of being Canadian is needed. The three sections of the book are each preceded by an introduction and summarized by a conclusion. The first essay also sets the stage for the examinations of specific Canadian novels. Part One starts with theory and how three novels of the 1960s and 1970s tried to expand what it meant to be Euro-Canadian. Part Two discusses the voice of indigenous peoples and non-European settlers. It also addresses the puzzle of whether Canada is post-colonial or still governed by the colonizers. The final section moves to the transnational scene. The politics surrounding a major literary prize introduces the section. Two novels by Asian-Canadians are then considered in terms of transnational movement of peoples. Underlying many of the articles is the topic of the elephant to the south and the Canadian fear of being subsumed by the culture of the United States.

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