L383 15350 STUDIES IN BRITISH OR COMMONWEALTH CULTURE
Christoph Irmscher

11:15a-12:05 MWF (30 students) 3 cr., A&H.

TOPIC: “Canadian Literature”

This course offers a lively introduction to major writers and topics in Canadian literature, with special emphasis on the social and political developments that have influenced literary trends (concepts of nationhood and community, First Nations and ethnic issues, multilingualism). We will also discuss genres that have acquired special importance in the Canadian canon, such as nature writing, and will look at some representative texts from the francophone tradition (in translation), such as Michel Tremblay’s La Grosse Femme. Readings will range from early nationalist texts to postcolonial critiques, from Susanna Moodie’s Roughing It in the Bush to Timothy Findley’s Not Wanted on the Voyage and Wayson Choy’s The Jade Peony. No special knowledge required. Participants need to purchase The Cambridge Companion to Canadian Literature (Cambridge University Press, 2004) and are encouraged to read chapters 1, 7, and 12 over the break.