ENGL 229 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Canada, Canadian Literature, French Language
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
ENGL 229
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
ENGL 229
01/09/2018
Overview of Canadian Literature
● “A national literature is an essential element in the formation of national character.” -
Edward Hartley Dewart (1864)
○ Dewart edited 1st anthology of Canadian literature
○ Quote was three years before confederation (1867)
● “Communities are to be distinguished by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in
which they are imagined.” - Benedict Anderson
● Canada is vast and diverse → speak of lit in terms of regions
● Challenges in the creation of a national literature in Canada
○ Infrastructure issues (railways, roads)
○ Distribution issues (Canada is very large geographically)
○ Population density
○ Geographical and historical characteristics
○ Absence of metropolitan centres (cities are very spread out)
○ Book publishing and distribution
○ Foreign ownership (primarily US or British publishers)
○ Colonial mentality, foreign models
○ School curriculum and teacher training
○ Material conditions of production
○ Cost of selling books rises when population density is low
○ Dissemination
○ Promotion
○ Literacy rates
○ Absence of bookstores
○ Effects of US population being ten times Canada’s
○ US interstate and highway system (1956)
● Problems in creating a national literature:
1. Infrastructure issues
2. Population density
3. Geographical and historical characteristics
4. Absence of metropolitan centres
5. Book publishing and distribution
6. Foreign ownership
7. Colonial mentality, foreign models
8. School curriculum and teacher training
● How did Canada solve these problems?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
○ Massey Commission and the Massey Solution
■ Created Massey Report in 1951
■ Said government had to invest money in the arts
○ Founding of Canada Council (1957) to determine who funding should go to
■ Independent of Canadian government
■ Led to growth of small press movement in 60s and 70s
■ Explosion of Canadian Literature in the 1960s
“Can. Lit” poem by Earle Birney
● Do you have to have conflict, war, a national tragedy, a civil war for a country to have a
sense of national identity?
● Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are both US poets
○ US literature started being taught and recognized earlier than Canadian literature
● War between French and English is ongoing in that Quebec still desires to secede
○ US Civil War was concrete war that united the nation and in which many
Americans lives were lost
○ War between French and English was less concrete of a bloody battle
■ Ergo “a bloody civil bore”
● US Constitution promises “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
○ Canadian gov promises “peace, order, and good government”
● Or them able leave her ever → the maple leaf forever
○ So yes, it is a patriotic poem
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Fall 2018 which they are imagined. - benedict anderson. Canada is vast and diverse speak of lit in terms of regions. Challenges in the creation of a national literature in canada. Distribution issues (canada is very large geographically) Absence of metropolitan centres (cities are very spread out) Foreign ownership (primarily us or british publishers) Cost of selling books rises when population density is low. Effects of us population being ten times canada"s. Dewart edited 1st anthology of canadian literature. Quote was three years before confederation (1867) Communities are to be distinguished by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in. Problems in creating a national literature: infrastructure issues, population density, geographical and historical characteristics, absence of metropolitan centres, book publishing and distribution, foreign ownership, colonial mentality, foreign models, school curriculum and teacher training. Said government had to invest money in the arts. Founding of canada council (1957) to determine who funding should go to.
