Issue archives

#184 (Spring 2005)
(Grace, Dolbec, Kirk, Dawson, Appleford)

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Editorial

Laurie Ricou

• Convince Me in Couplets (p. 6 - 9)
• Subjects: Language/Linguistics, Poetry
• PDF available

Articles

Sherrill Grace

• Calling Out the MacLean Boys: George Bowering’s Shoot and the Autobiography of British Columbia’s History (p. 11 - 25)
• Abstract: Show/hide

  In this article Sherrill Grace places Bowering’s novel in its geographical and historical context and provides a reading of the text as an autobiographical fiction about the contact zone in late 19th century British Columbia. Drawing on the concepts of autobiographical pact, relational identity, and “autobiographics,” plus the concepts of contact zone and transculturation, Grace argues that Bowering’s complex multi-voiced narrative about the “McLean gang” (the four mixed race men, one of whom was only a teenager, who were executed for their crimes) succeeds, as a moving story about cultural issues of lasting significance for today’s readers, because of its manipulation of the autobiographical “I.” It is through this voice that Bowering considers his own past and invites readers to reflect on the legacy of history and their responsibility to the future.

  <!--French Translation-->

  
  
  Dans cet article, Sherrill Grace place le roman de Bowering dans son contexte géographique et historique. Elle nous présente une lecture du texte dans laquelle le roman est présenté comme une fiction autobiographique sur la zone de contact de la Colombie-Britannique vers la fin de 19ième siècle. Grace utilise les concepts du pacte autobiographique, de l’identité relationnelle et des « [aspects] autobiographiques » avec les idées de zone de contact et de transculturation. Le roman raconte l’histoire de « la bande à McLean » – quatre Métis qui furent exécutés pour leurs délits et dont l’un n’était qu’un adolescent. Selon Grace, la narration complexe, à plusieurs voix, réussit à raconter une histoire émouvante des questions culturelles qui a toujours une pertinence, aujourd’hui, à cause de sa manipulation du « je » autobiographique. C’est au travers de cette voix que Bowering réfléchit sur son propre passé et invite les lecteurs à considérer l’héritage de l’histoire et leur responsabilité pour l’avenir.

• Subjects: Autobiography, British Columbia, Landscape/Space
• PDF available

Nathalie Dolbec

• D’un tableau l’autre: Le parcours de l’ekphrasis dans Volkswagen Blues de Jacques Poulin (p. 27 - 43)
• Abstract: Show/hide

  Dans Volkswagen Blues, un homme traverse l’Amérique à la recherche de son frère. Trois ekphrasis jalonnent le récit: d’une murale de Rivera, d’un tableau de Renoir, et de la Cène de Vinci. À partir du Differential Model de Valerie Robillard, nous montrerons à quel point l’ekphrasis concurrence ici le narratif. D’un tableau l’autre, le frère disparu se manifeste d’abord à titre métonymique, pour finalement entrer dans le tableau, indexant ce dernier à la matérialité de la quête. On parlera alors d’ekphrastic linkage, dans la mesure où la quête, dont les vicissitudes sont officiellement confiées au narratif, se révèle tout autant – et même s’actualise – au niveau du descriptif.

  <!--English Translation-->

  
  
  In Volkswagen Blues, a man crosses the United States of America, searching for his brother. Three ekphrases mark the story: a mural by Rivera, a tableau by Renoir, and de Vinci’s Last Supper. Based on Valerie Robillard’s Differential Model, we show the extent to which the ekphrases coincide with the narrative. From one tableau to the next, the lost brother appears, at first only metonymically, but ultimately to enter into the tableau itself, connecting it to the materiality of the quest. This leads us to a discussion of ekphrastic linkage in that the quest, where the vicissitudes are officially confined to the narrative, reveals – and realizes – itself on the descriptive level.

• Subjects: Language/Linguistics, Novel
• PDF available

Heather Kirk

• Caroline Clement: The Hidden Life of Mazo de la Roche’s Collaborator (p. 46 - 67)
• Abstract: Show/hide

  Heather Kirk’s “Caroline Clement: The Hidden Life of Mazo de la Roche’s Collaborator” refutes the claim of Joan Givner’s Mazo de la Roche: The Hidden life, that de la Roche was a lesbian child molester who victimized her younger cousin and life-long companion, Caroline Clement. The paper outlines the life of Clement. It shows that Clement was older than de la Roche, that she was not an orphan, that she was raised with de la Roche as a sister, that she was the leader of the pair, and that she was a partner in the creation of the Jalna series. Heather Kirk is a freelance writer and part-time college instructor. She has published several novels for young adults and a number of articles about Canadian literature. She is a member of the Writers’ Union of Canada and CANSCAIP.

  <!--French Translation-->

  
  
  Cet article de Heather Kirk réfute l’affirmation de l’article « Mazo de la Roche: The Hidden life » de Joan Givner. L’article de Givner prétend que de la Roche fut une lesbienne qui abusa Caroline Clément, sa cousine, plus jeune, qui fut sa compagne pendant toute sa vie. L’essai décrit la vie de Clément et montre que celle-ci était en effet plus âgée que de la Roche, qu’elle n’était pas orpheline, qu’elle a été élevée avec de la Roche comme une sœur, qu’elle était le leader de la paire et qu’elle était une partenaire dans la création de la série Jalna.

• Subjects: Biography, Life Writing
• PDF available

Carrie Dawson

• Skinned: Taxidermy and Pedophilia in Alice Munro’s Vandals (p. 69 - 83)
• Abstract: Show/hide

  Through a reading of Alice Munro’s "Vandals," this article explores the story that a fictional taxidermic display is arranged to tell and that which it inadvertently tells. I argue that because Munro’s taxidermic diorama features idealized displays of animal life that are predicated on the slaughtering and stuffing of their animal subjects but are nevertheless received as icons of the natural, it emphasizes a tendency to see nature as a "naïve reality" that is not in need of explanation. Because the perception of the outdoor diorama as a haven of intra-and interspecies communion disguises the violence that takes place on its grounds, the diorama functions as a reminder of the consequences of our failure to scrutinize that which is too blithely constituted as natural. And finally, because Munro represents the diorama as a simulation of a natural environment, while also emphasizing the dissimulation of the humans who pass through it, it provides fertile ground from which to explore the willing self-deceptin that is at the centre of this complex story.

  <!--French Translation-->

  
  
  Par sa lecture de « Vandals » d’Alice Munro, cet article explore l’histoire racontée par une exposition fictive de taxidermie – une histoire qui est effectivement bien différente de celle que l’exposition est censée raconter. Le diorama de taxidermie de Munro présente des illustrations de la vie des animaux qui sont fondées sur leur carnage. Mais, parce que ces illustrations sont toutefois comprises comme « naturelles », on a tendance à voir la nature comme une « réalité naïve » qui n’a pas besoin d’explication. La perception du diorama comme un endroit de communion intra et inter-espèce masque la violence inhérente à la scène. Ainsi, le diorama nous rappelle les conséquences de notre échec à scruter ce qui est trop facilement compris comme naturel. Finalement, parce que Munro présente le diorama comme une simulation de l’environnement naturel, tout en insistant sur la dissimulation des humains qui le voient, le diorama nous aide à explorer l’aveuglement volontaire qui est au sein de cette histoire complexe.

• Subjects: Animal Studies, Nature Writing, Novel
• PDF available

Rob Appleford

• Close, very close, a b’gwus howls: The Contingency of Execution in Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach (p. 85 - 101)
• Abstract: Show/hide

  This paper explores how Eden Robinson’s novel Monkey Beach can be read neither as an objective depiction of West Coast First Nations "real life," nor as a distorted reflection of dominant culture, but instead as an exploration of imbricated desire and lack. In the novel, the Haisla/Heiltsuk traditional figure of the b’gwus, or Sasquatch, is a trope which organizes the main character Lisamarie Hill’s search for Haisla/Heiltsuk cultural knowledge, and a perverse figure which makes such a search impossible. The b’gwus figure thus allows Robinson to explore the ways in which First Nations subjectivity can be both negotiated and problematized.

• Subjects: Canadian Folklore, Literary Criticism
• PDF available

Poems

Bill Howell

• Late Show (p. 10)

Eric Miller

• Hunted (p. 26)

Sheila Peters

• bushed (p. 44 - 45)

Peter Trower

• Dwindling Sally (p. 68)

Susan McCaslin

• Advent (p. 84)

Book Reviews

Reviews section PDF available

Darkness and Light (p. 102 - 103)

by Zach Wells

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Ashland by Gil Adamson
2. Outside Magic by Noah Leznoff
3. The Witness Ghost by Tim Bowling

Subjects: Poetry

Utopies d'une Amérique française (p. 103 - 105)

by Constance Cartmill

Book(s) reviewed:

1. La Nouvelle-France. Les Français en Amérique du Nord XVIe-XVIIIe siècle by Jacques Mathieu
2. Utopies en Canada (1545-1845) by Bernard J. Andrès and Nancy Desjardins

Subjects: Francophone, History, Quebec

Crystal Methods (p. 105 - 106)

by Ian Rae

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Crystallography by Christian Bök
2. Dummy Spit by Mark Laba
3. Hammertown by Peter Culley

Subjects: Poetry

Orature Captured in Print (p. 106 - 107)

by Penny Van Toorn

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Indian Myths and Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America by Dorothy Kennedy and Randy Bouchard

Subjects: British Columbia, Canadian Folklore

Wary of Angels (p. 108 - 110)

by Marilyn Iwama

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Imprints and Casualties: Poets on Women and Language, Reinventing Memory by Anne Burke
2. Jacob's Dream by Elizabeth Brewster
3. The Elders' Place: Iniqnirit Qalgiat by Margo Button and Natasha Thorpe

Subjects: Correspondence, First Nations, Poetry, Religion

Calling For New Readers (p. 110 - 112)

by Elizabeth Maurer

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives by Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson
2. Repossessing the World: Reading Memoirs by Contemporary Women by Helen M. Buss

Subjects: Autobiography, Biography, Life Writing, Women's Literature

Ontario Hauntings (p. 112 - 114)

by Ingrid Mündel

Book(s) reviewed:

1. An Acre of Time: The Play by Jason Sherman
2. Beaver: A Play by Claudia Day
3. Walking on Water by Dave Carley

Subjects: Crime & Detective, Drama, Ontario

Telling Our Stories (p. 114 - 116)

by Sherrill Grace

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Colours in the Storm by Jim Betts
2. If This Is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground by J. Edward Chamberlin
3. Playing Dead: A Contemplation Concerning the Arctic by Rudy Wiebe

Subjects: Autobiography, Canadian Folklore, Drama, First Nations, Science

Problem Plays for Teens (p. 116 - 118)

by Sue Fisher

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Flippin' In and Then and Now by Anne Chislett
2. Naked at School: Three Plays for Teens by Chris Craddock
3. Rave: Young Adult Drama by Edward Roy, Beth Goobie, and Carmen Aguirre

Subjects: Drama, Latin-American

Revisiting Juno Beach (p. 118)

by Marlene Briggs

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy by Terry Copp

Subjects: World War II

The Gospel of Grant (p. 119 - 120)

by George Elliott Clarke

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Collected Works of George Grant: Volume 2 (1951 - 1959) by Arthur Davis

Subjects: Philosophy, Politics

Staging Alternative Albertas (p. 120 - 122)

by Ric Knowles

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Staging Alternative Albertas: Experimental Drama in Edmonton by Patricia Demers and Rosalind Kerr

Subjects: Drama, Prairie Writing

Religious Quest (p. 122 - 123)

by Barbara Pell

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Northrop Frye's Notebooks and Lectures on the Bible and Other Religious Texts by Robert D. Denham

Subjects: Religion

Romans de jeunesse (p. 123 - 126)

by Anne M. Rusnak

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Bonne année, Ani Croche by Bertrand Gauthier
2. Je suis Thomas by Sylvie Desrosiers
3. Une lettre pour Nakicha by Marthe Pelletier

Subjects: Francophone, Novel

Seeds in the Wind (p. 126 - 128)

by Roxanne L. Rimstead

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Progressive Heritage: The Evolution of a Politically Radical Literary Tradition in Canada by James Doyle

Subjects: History, Politics

Strategic Orientalisms (p. 128 - 129)

by Janice Brown

Book(s) reviewed:

1. "A Half Caste" and Other Writings by Onoto Wantanna, Elizabeth Rooney, and Linda Trinh Moser
2. Edith and Winnifred Eaton: Chinatown Missions and Japanese Romances by Dominika Ferens

Subjects: Asian American, Short Fiction

Oublis à réparer (p. 130 - 132)

by Réjean Beaudoin

Book(s) reviewed:

1. L'Aventure: Récit d'un éditeur by Jacques Fortin
2. Les ɉtudes québécoises à l'étranger Problèmes et perspectives by Daniel Chartier
3. Les Nations québécoises dans L'Action nationale: De la décolonisation à la mondialisation by Catherine Bouchard
4. Victor Barbeau: Un réseau d'influences littéraires by Chantale Gingras

Subjects: Francophone, Quebec

Lost in Transit (p. 132 - 133)

by Herb Wyile

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Elle by Douglas H. Glover

Subjects: Exploration, Historical Fiction

War, Story, and Polemic (p. 133 - 134)

by Marlene Briggs

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Canada and the Two World Wars by J. L. Granatstein and Desmond Morton

Subjects: History, World War I, World War II

Northeast of King (p. 134 - 135)

by Lawrence Mathews

Book(s) reviewed:

1. The Town That Forgot How to Breathe by Kenneth J. Harvey

Subjects: Atlantic Canada, Speculative Fiction

The Reel Deal (p. 135 - 136)

by Donna Coates

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Garbo Laughs by Elizabeth Hay

Subjects: Film, Novel

Renegotiating the Peaceable Kingdom (p. 136 - 138)

by Gordon Bölling

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Challenging Canada: Dialogism and Narrative Techniques in Canadian Novels by Gabriele Helms

Subjects: Life Writing, Literary Theory, Novel

Feminist Paradoxes (p. 138 - 139)

by Marie-Thérèse Blanc

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Settler Feminism and Race Making in Canada by Jennifer Henderson

Subjects: Canadian Studies, Feminism, History, Politics, Settler Writing

Community or Class in Ladysmith? (p. 139 - 140)

by Sean T. Cadigan

Book(s) reviewed:

1. When Coal Was King: Ladysmith and the Coal-Mining Industry on Vancouver Island by John R. Hinde

Subjects: British Columbia, Landscape/Space, Working Class

Baroness Elsa and FPG (p. 140 - 142)

by Rosmarin Heidenreich

Book(s) reviewed:

1. The Politics of Cultural Mediation. Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven and Felix Paul Greve by Paul Hjartarson and Tracy Kulba

Subjects: Cultural Studies, Literary Criticism, Postcolonialism

Shrink-wrapped (p. 142 - 143)

by Robert Amussen

Book(s) reviewed:

1. The Speaking Cure by David Toby Homel

Subjects: Eastern European, Novel

Ghosts of the Past (p. 143 - 144)

by Stella Algoo-Baksh

Book(s) reviewed:

1. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Subjects: Novel

Revelations of Illegitimacy (p. 144 - 145)

by Cynthia Sugars

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Contemporary Canadian Women's Fiction: Refiguring Identities by Coral Ann Howell

Subjects: Memory & Identity, Women's Literature

The Sincerity Test (p. 145 - 146)

by Bert Almon

Book(s) reviewed:

1. After Ted & Sylvia by Crystal Hurdle
2. Taking the Names Down from the Hill by Philip Kevin Paul
3. The Gates of Even by John Thompson

Subjects: First Nations, Nature Writing, Poetry

The Reader's Challenge (p. 147)

by Catherine Khordoc

Book(s) reviewed:

1. An Adoration by Nancy Huston
2. Thunder and Light by Nigel Spencer and Marie-Claire Blais

Subjects: Novel

E. Pauline Johnson, Tekahionwake: The Texts (p. 148 - 149)

by Cecily Devereux

Book(s) reviewed:

1. E. Pauline Johnson, Tekahionwake: Collected Poems and Selected Prose by Carole Gerson and Veronica Strong-Boag

Subjects: First Nations, Poetry

Kalman's History (p. 149)

by C. D. Moorhead

Book(s) reviewed:

1. A Concise History of Canadian Architecture by Harold Kalman

Subjects: Architecture, Canadian Studies

Midnight's Grandchildren (p. 150)

by Terri Tomsky

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Counterrealism and Indo-Anglican Fiction by Chelva Kanaganayakam

Subjects: Indian/South Asian, Literary Criticism, Postmodernism

Romans oniriques (p. 151 - 152)

by Natasha Nobell

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Le mangeur de pierres by Gilles Tibo
2. Somnolences by Patricia Lamontagne

Subjects: Francophone, Young Adult

L'Amérique imaginaire (p. 152 - 155)

by Réjean Beaudoin

Book(s) reviewed:

1. De Québec à Montréal Journal de la seconde session, 1846 suivi de Sept jours aux Etats-Unis, 1850 (Introduction et notes de Georges Aubin) by Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau
2. Le Mythe de l'Amérique dans l'imaginaire "canadien" by Maurice Lemire

Subjects: Nineteenth Century, Quebec, United States

Telling a Story (p. 155 - 157)

by Jill Wade

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia by Donald Luxton
2. The Vancouver Achievement: Urban Planning and Design by John Punter

Subjects: Architecture, British Columbia

Gender, Race, and Adventure (p. 157 - 158)

by Darlene Abreu-Ferreira

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Escapes! by Laura Scandiffio
2. Secrets in the Fire by Henning Mankell
3. Terra Incognita by Anne Metikosh

Subjects: Afro-Canadian, Gender, Novel, Short Fiction, Young Adult

Transatlantic Backyard (p. 158 - 159)

by Lawrence Mathews

Book(s) reviewed:

1. The Backyards of Heaven by Stephanie McKenzie and John Ennis

Subjects: Atlantic Canada, Irish-Canadian , Poetry

Challenging Boundaries (p. 160 - 161)

by Allan Weiss

Book(s) reviewed:

1. A Johnny Novel by Robert Richard
2. A Promise of Salt by Lorie Miseck
3. The View from Tamischeira by Richard Cumyn

Subjects: Autobiography, Short Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Trauma

Canadian History Revisited (p. 161 - 162)

by Gordon Bölling

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Committed to the State Asylum: Insanity and Society in Nineteenth-Century Quebec and Ontario by James E. Moran
2. Where the River Narrows by Aimée Laberge

Subjects: Body & Health, First Nations, Ontario, Quebec

Turn it all "About" (p. 162 - 164)

by Gary Boire

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Grandchild of Empire: About Irony, Mainly in the Commonwealth by W. H. New

Subjects: Autobiography, Language/Linguistics

The Shape of Events (p. 164 - 166)

by Shannon Hengen

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Blood Relations and Other Play by Sharon Pollock
2. Jewel by Joan MacLeod
3. The Shape of a Girl by Joan MacLeod

Subjects: Crime & Detective, Drama

Of Movies and Clichés (p. 166 - 167)

by Marta Dvorak

Book(s) reviewed:

1. River of the Brokenhearted by David Adams Richards

Subjects: Atlantic Canada, Historical Fiction

Roots and Gatenby (p. 167 - 169)

by Lothar Honnighausen

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Special Places: The Changing Ecosystems of the Toronto Region by Betty I. Roots, Donald A. Chant, and Conrad E. Heidenreich
2. Toronto: A Literary Guide by Greg Gatenby

Subjects: Landscape/Space, Ontario

Foreign Lands (p. 169 - 172)

by Mark Williams

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Lying on the Postcolonial Couch: The Idea of Indifference by Rukmini Bhaya Nair
2. Postcolonial Hospitality: The Immigrant as Guest by Mireille Rosello
3. Shifting Continents/Colliding Cultures: Diaspora Writing of the Indian Subcontinent by Radhika Mohanram and Ralph J. Crane

Subjects: Diaspora, Indian/South Asian, Postcolonialism

In Praise of the Left Hand (p. 172 - 173)

by Cedric May

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Le Visage des mots by Jean Royer
2. Nos Corps habitables by Jean Royer
3. Nous sommes en alarme by Louise Cotnoir

Subjects: Poetry

CanLit History Today (p. 173 - 175)

by Marie Vaultier

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Tendances actuelles en histoire littéraire canadienne by Denis Saint-Jacques

Subjects: Literary Criticism, Nationalism

Western Ways (p. 175 - 176)

by Katherine Durnin

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Lightning by Fred Stenson

Subjects: Novel, Western

Response and Responsibility (p. 176 - 177)

by John Moffatt

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Furious Observations of a Blue-Eyed Ojibway by Drew Hayden Taylor
2. Will's Garden by Lee Maracle

Subjects: Essays, First Nations, Young Adult

Tête ailleurs et désertion (p. 177 - 179)

by Carlo Lavoie

Book(s) reviewed:

1. La désertion by Pierre Yergeau
2. La tête ailleurs by Hélène Vachon

Subjects: Francophone, Novel

Redefining Alberta (p. 179 - 180)

by Katherine Durnin

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Mavericks: An Incorrigible History of Alberta by Aritha van Herk

Subjects: History, Landscape/Space, Prairie Writing

Children from the Wars Returning (p. 180 - 181)

by Jonathan F. Vance

Book(s) reviewed:

1. And in the Morning by John Wilson
2. Brothers Far from Home: The World War I Diary of Eliza Bates, Uxbridge, Ontario, 1916 by Jean Little

Subjects: Children's Literature, World War I

Feeling Numb (p. 182)

by Jenny Pai

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Banana Boys by Terry Woo

Subjects: Asian Canadian, Novel

Confusing Collusions (p. 182 - 183)

by Valerie Raoul

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Rethinking Women's Collaborative Writing by Lorraine York

Confusing Collusions (p. 182 - 183)

by Valerie Raoul

Book(s) reviewed:

Subjects: Authorship, Women's Literature

Opinions & Notes

Lois Simmie

• Trying to Say Goodbye (p. 184)
• Subjects: Crime & Detective, Novel

Jane Barker Wright and Laurie Ricou

• The Understanding (p. 184)
• Subjects: Novel

Laurie Ricou and Sandra Sabatini

• Making Babies: Infants in Canadian Fiction (p. 184)
• Subjects: Childhood, Literary Criticism

Mary Burns and Laurie Ricou

• Flashing Yellow (p. 184 - 185)
• Subjects: Novel

Bernard Haché

• La Proclamation royale sur la Déportation des Acadiens ou le protocole de la grande prudence (p. 186 - 193)
• Subjects: Atlantic Canada, Politics

Last Pages

Laurie Ricou

• Called by the Wild (p. 194 - 196)
• Subjects: Landscape/Space, Photography

Eva-Marie Kröller

• Earth and High Heaven (p. 197 - 198)
• Subjects: Jewish-Canadian , Novel