The "Great" Canaddian Novel?

[JBI]

The cultural diversity isn't the point. The point is that there is no unifying cultural idea or raison-d'etre within Canada. Don Quixote could make a claim to being a "national" book, although I don't think anything about it represents any sort of Spanish national idea, by virtue of just being old and influential. No one work could ever make a claim to representing any sort of Canadian national idea, the way so many works in the USA have addressed the American dream.

It's not even that though - history itself is very strange; where does one start? Do we say Canadian identity begins with Aboriginals who were essentially excluded from it, and still are for the most part? Or does it begin with the French, or the British - in the Maritimes, or Ontario, or somewhere else. With the US there is the early idea of the shot that sets off the revolution, then the beginning of the mass expansion, then the civil war, then the culmination of the expansion, essentially getting rid of Native identity altogether.

We can go further in Canada - does it start from Europe, or from Asia, does it start from Confederation or from the War of Vimy Ridge? What about the new arrivals, and the not so new ethnic arrivals - what of the mass flood of Eastern Europeans, notably Ukranians into the Prairies?

The truth is, the bulk of the best texts of Canadian literature function to undermine ideas of Canadian identity and tradition as ethnically biased - there is no one voice that has ever managed to sustain itself. The only reason for the prevalence of Atwood is because in the 90s she sold out and became a "World author" abandoning most of her Canadian affiliations. And even then, she never even came close to representing anything other than Ontario.


The US is different, but as the above poster said, the one defining thing about Canada is that we don't want to be like the people to the south of us. Atwood once wrote something along the lines of "The difference between Americans and Canadians is that Americans think they are above of Mexico, and we know Americans are bellow us." And I think that holds rather well within the literary discourse.

[Etienne]

It is a place where 30 years ago, bombings were common place and a paramilitary coup was imminent.

What? Are you kidding? a paramilitary coup? (and imminent too?)

[OrphanPip]

What? Are you kidding? a paramilitary coup? (and imminent too?)

Not a likely successful one, but that was the FLQs longterm goal.

Edit: Although, I should amend my post to say 40 years ago. Imminent is a bit too strong a word too.

[JCamilo]

American novels deal with American Dream? You mean Steinbeck Mice, Melville Whale, Hawthorne Letter... One could say Mark Twain was such, but how come Moby Dick represents the american dream is beyond me.
And c'mom, the story is confuse? What about USA history? It does not starts with Hawai, you know.

[JBI]

Not a likely successful one, but that was the FLQs longterm goal.

Edit: Although, I should amend my post to say 40 years ago. Imminent is a bit too strong a word too.

I think the movement though, with an exception of a very, very small fringe was more diplomatic and artistic, as it still is today. Think about all the Quebec writers that emerged at the time, and the tradition that was able to solidify.

Quite simply put, French Canadian literature was able to emerge far more strongly than Anglo-literature in that era, especially in prose. And now, with post-modernism, it is still, on a book by book basis, arguably much stronger. The sort of creativity that came out of France that made it to Quebec works much better, I would argue, than the American concepts that move up here.

So for instance, all the strange political ties of each movement in the US as a fringe make it to here, so you have mediocre poets from 3rd generation Hong Kong families reading Frank Chin, and thinking that somehow Canadian letters has excluded them, and horribly stereotyped them, and aught to pay them more attention.

That's a problem of course - when race becomes a literature. It's really an American concept, but during the 90s there was a tendency to try and put out all these mediocre anthologies of any categorical poet available.

[OrphanPip]

I think the movement though, with an exception of a very, very small fringe was more diplomatic and artistic, as it still is today. Think about all the Quebec writers that emerged at the time, and the tradition that was able to solidify.

People would like to remember it as a small fringe. However, when the FLQ kidnapped the British trade envoy, there were mass protest in Montreal in support of the FLQ.

It was the assassination of Pierre LaPorte, the enactment of the War Measures Act, and the PQ's subsequent public rejection of violent tactics that put the nail into the coffin of the FLQ's desire for a violent revolution. Today, at least, "FLQ" is reduced to an edgy tag for angsty teens who like to vandalize war memorials and statues of prime ministers.

Quebec nationalism has certainly had a positive effect on the artistic output of the province.

American novels deal with American Dream? You mean Steinbeck Mice, Melville Whale, Hawthorne Letter... One could say Mark Twain was such, but how come Moby Dick represents the american dream is beyond me.
And c'mom, the story is confuse? What about USA history? It does not starts with Hawai, you know.

I wrote, "so many deal with." Clearly I did not imply that all American novels deal with the American dream. I was talking about the presence and abundance of national ideas within the USA.

[pooteeweet]

The Great Gretzky

[ForKnowledge]

Not sure if its what your looking for but Fifth Business by Robertson Davies is my favorite Canadian novel first of a trilogy also the cunning man by him is good.

[Dark Muse]

I am acutally on the 3rd book of the Deptford Trilogy, World of Wonders and so far I have enjoyed all three of the book and find they are quite witty and interesting.

I also have The Rebel Angel from the Cornish trilogy but haven't read that one yet.