Issue archives

#201 (Summer 2009)
Disappearance and Mobility

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Editorial

Smaro Kamboureli

• Disappearance and Mobility: A TransCanada Institute Issue (p. 6 - 13)
• Subjects: Multiculturalism

Articles

Carole Gerson

• Writers Without Borders: The Global Framework of Canada's Early Literary History (p. 15 - 33)
• Abstract: Show/hide

  Traditionally shaped as a saga of beleaguered survival on the margins of imperial centres, the story of our literary past can be recast as the harbinger of a global print culture. Surveying 19th century writers in general and focusing on several cases in particular, this essay argues that Canadian writers, particularly those working in English, have always operated in an international context with regard to the content of their texts, the location of their publishers, their desire for audience, and their own travels and domiciles.

• Subjects: Historiography, Literary Criticism, Nineteenth Century, Publishing

Tanis Macdonald

• "Everybody knows that song": The Necessary Trouble of Teaching Thomas King's Truth and Bright Water (p. 35 - 51)
• Abstract: Show/hide

  This paper considers Thomas King’s 1999 novel Truth and Bright Water through Jacques Derrida’s work with the aporia: the state of being caught between the necessity of an imperative and the impossibility of the fulfillment of that imperative, with emphases upon aporia as a communal force in the text and as a discursive tension in the classroom. By examining a double set of questions, those about a unnamed song as a metonymic device for all that remains “unknown” in King’s novel, and those about a pedagogy of discomfort in the Canadian literature classroom, this paper discusses the ways reading Truth and Bright Water promotes a “suspended” criticism as part of a socially conscious reading practice.

• Subjects: Canadian Studies

Kit Dobson

• Indigeneity and Diversity in Eden Robinson's Work (p. 54 - 67)
• Abstract: Show/hide

  As Eden Robinson struggles with how her writing is going to be recognized in her Haisla community and Canadian letters, readers bear witness to a shifting politics. This process should caution against the absorption of Robinson’s writing into the Canadian corpus because it resists representing Haisla life. But one result of this resistance is de-specification, a resistance that renders her work less culturally specific. There is a persistent “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation for a writer like Robinson: if she acts as a representative of her community, she can be damned for doing so, but if she doesn’t maintain her specificity, her absorption into the colonial nation-state may take place through voiding the resistant aesthetics that cultural specificity might represent. This essay interrogates Robinson’s writing in order to unpack this bind, examining ways in which Indigenous authors are asked to perform themselves in the literary marketplace.

• Subjects: Architecture, Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism, Native Studies
• PDF available

Guy Beauregard

• After Redress: A Conversation with Roy Miki (p. 71 - 86)
• Abstract: Show/hide

  In this wide-ranging conversation held in Taipei shortly after the publication of Redress: Inside the Japanese Canadian Call for Justice (2004), Roy Miki discusses the Japanese Canadian redress movement; redress as an unfinished project; the cultural politics of the late-1980s and 1990s; historical memory in Taiwan; the nation and globalization; his work as a teacher; his relationship to academic institutions; and the current state of CanLit.

• Subjects: Diaspora, International Conflict

Stephen Morton

• Multiculturalism and the Formation of a Diasporic Counterpublic: Roy K. Kiyooka's StoneDGloves (p. 89 - 109)
• Abstract: Show/hide

  This essay considers how recent diasporic writing has questioned the liberal democratic claims of Canada's multicultural policies to recognise the history and culture of its diasporic citizens. At the core of the essay is a detailed reading of Roy Kiyooka's catalogue of poems and photographs, StoneDGloves (1970), which considers how Kiyooka traces a history of race-labour in the foundations of the Canadian nation state, and attempts to redress state policies of racial exclusion and discrimination in Canada's national narrative. But the essay also supplements this reading with a discussion of the ways in which the history of race-labour migrancy and the discourse of racial exclusion is figured in Larissa Lai's Salt Fish Girl (2002) and Roy Miki's Random Access File (1995). In so doing, I suggest that these texts contribute to the formation of a diasporic counterpublic, or a rhetorical site for articulating histories of migration and racialization.

• Subjects: Multiculturalism

John Corr

• Affective Coordination and Avenging Grace: Dionne Brand's In Another Place, Not Here (p. 113 - 129)
• Abstract: Show/hide

  My analysis of In Another Place, Not Here considers the text’s interruption of powerful social hierarchies and its portrayal of positive social networks in the face of sexual alienation and diasporic displacement. This essay focuses on the affective processes by which queer, mobile women come to depend on one another for orientation in the Black diaspora. Through an expanded attention on the limits of the corporeal body and its incorporeal economy, trans-identarian and supra-national possibilities for the social emerge. Though “diaspora” necessarily implies collectivity, Brand’s characters reinvent relationality so that their diasporic relationships are not reducible to shared cultural traditions or myths of common origin. In describing the characters' affective coordinations, I draw on Brian Massumi’s neologism “biogram,” a term that merges “biology” and “diagram” to describe the corporeal-incorporeal “sixth sense” that registers and regulates the body’s capacity to move through space. Though Massumi describes this capacity at the level of the individual sensing body, his term has tremendous potential for describing the affective impact of collective, global movement on diasporic bodies.

• Subjects: Cultural Studies, Diaspora, Multiculturalism

Poems

Ben Hart

• How to get to Poland by way of Lavant (p. 14)

Brianna Brash-Nyberg

• Crows to Burnaby (p. 34)

David Bateman

• Saving Grace: (to a deflated blow-up doll outside a restaurant - Vancouver, July 1st 2007) (p. 52 - 53)

Tom Wayman

• Adjustment (p. 68 - 70)

Alev Ersan

• In Circles (p. 87 - 88)

Kirstie McCallum

• Living is Faith (in Good Digestion and Numbers) (p. 110 - 112)

Jan E. Conn

• Storm-Damaged Alphabet (p. 130)

Book Reviews

Chevaliers de la mémoire (p. 0)

by Maxime Prévost

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Aux chevaliers du nœud coulant by Rémi Tremblay

Mixing Periods & Genres (p. 131 - 132)

by Stephen Legault

Book(s) reviewed:

1. The Cardinal Divide by Stephen Legault
2. The Outlander by Gil Adamson

Subjects: Crime & Detective, Historical Fiction

Social Commentaries (p. 132 - 134)

by Carmen Aguirre

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Benevolence by Morris Panych
2. Shatter by Trina Davies
3. The Trigger by Carmen Aguirre

Subjects: Drama

Sleight of Land (p. 134 - 135)

by Domenic Beneventi

Book(s) reviewed:

1. The City Man by Howard Akler
2. The Drowned Lands by

Subjects: Novel, Urban Novel

Start to Finish (p. 136 - 138)

by Joan Barfoot

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Exit Lines by Joan Barfoot
2. The Origin of Species by Nino Ricci

Subjects: Novel

Privileged Access (p. 136)

by Jason Ranon Uri Rotstein

Book(s) reviewed:

1. New Readings of Yiddish Montreal by Sherry Simon, Pierre Anctil, and Norman Ravvin

Subjects: Canadian Studies

Women in the Market (p. 138 - 139)

by Peter Baskerville

Book(s) reviewed:

1. A Silent Revolution?: Gender and Wealth in English Canada 1860-1930 by Peter Baskerville

Subjects: Culture, Women's Studies

Writing Absence, Facing Exile (p. 139 - 140)

by Katia Belkhodja

Book(s) reviewed:

1. La Contrainte de l’inachevé by Anthony Phelps
2. La Peau des doigts by Katia Belkhodja

Subjects: Francophone

"Beastly Horrible French," Hein? (p. 141)

by Stefan Dollinger

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Obsessed with Language: A Sociolinguistic History of Quebec by Luise Von Flotow and Chantal Bouchard

Subjects: Canadian Studies, Language/Linguistics

Alberta, Bound (p. 142 - 144)

by Owen Percy

Book(s) reviewed:

1. First Mountain by Paulette Dubé
2. It's Hard Being Queen: The Dusty Springfield Poems by Jeanette Lynes
3. Noise From the Laundry by Weyman Chan
4. The Book Collector by Tim Bowling
5. The Sweet Fuels by Erin Knight

Subjects: Poetry, Regionalism

In and Out of the Wild (p. 144 - 145)

by Tim Bowling

Book(s) reviewed:

1. A Passion for this Earth: Writers, Scientists & Activists Explore Our Relationship with Nature & the Environment by Michelle Benjamin
2. The Lost Coast: Salmon, Memory and the Death of Wild Culture by Tim Bowling

Subjects: Ecocriticism

Potential Energy (p. 145 - 146)

by Joseph Boyden

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Born With A Tooth by Joseph Boyden
2. Mother Superior by Saleema Nawaz

Subjects: Short Fiction

Fédéralisme asymétrique et minorités linguistiques (p. 147)

by Pierre Senay

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Le fédéralisme asymétrique et les minorités linguistiques et nationales by Linda Cardinal

Subjects: Language/Linguistics

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (p. 148 - 149)

by Andrew Cohen

Book(s) reviewed:

1. The Unfinished Canadian: The People We Are by Andrew Cohen

Subjects: Canadian Studies

Love and Liminality (p. 149 - 150)

by Méira Cook

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Women Between: Construction of Self in the Work of Sharon Butala, Aganetha Dyck, Mary Meigs, and Mary Pratt by Verna Reid
2. Writing Lovers: Reading Canadian Love Poetry by Women by

Subjects: Women's Studies

From Blood to Ideas (p. 150 - 152)

by Michael Roberson

Book(s) reviewed:

1. All These Roads: The Poetry of Louis Dudek by Karis Shearer and Louis Dudek
2. By Word of Mouth: The Poetry of Dennis Cooley by Nicole Markotic and Dennis Cooley
3. The Crisp Day Closing on My Hand: The Poetry of M. Travis Lane by M. Travis Lane and Jeanette Lynes

Subjects: Poetry

Popular Postmodernism (p. 152 - 153)

by Andrew Davidson

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

Subjects: Novel

Pressing Concerns (p. 153 - 155)

by Michael deBeyer

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Everywhere Being is Dancing: Twenty Pieces of Thinking by Robert Bringhurst
2. Gaspereau Gloriatur: Liber Beati Anni Decimi. Volume II: Prose by Andrew Steeves, Kate Kennedy, and Michael deBeyer

Subjects: Short Fiction

Sweetly, Sourly Canadian (p. 155 - 156)

by Anthony De Sa

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Barnacle Love by Anthony De Sa
2. Big White Knuckles by Brian Tucker

Subjects: Novel, Urban Novel

Torment and Dislocation (p. 156 - 157)

by Julie Cairnie

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Dance Hall Road by Marion Douglas

Subjects: Novel

Short Frictions (p. 157 - 159)

by Owen Percy

Book(s) reviewed:

1. At the Bottom of the Sky by Peter Dubé
2. Long Story Short by Elyse Friedman
3. Six Ways to Sunday by Christian McPherson
4. Wildness Lies in Wait by Stirling Noh

Subjects: Short Fiction

La vie comme un fil (p. 159 - 160)

by Louise Dupré

Book(s) reviewed:

1. L'été funambule by Louise Dupré

Subjects: Women's Literature

Integrating Violence (p. 160 - 161)

by Nick Faragher

Book(s) reviewed:

1. The Chinese Knot and Other Stories by Lien Chao
2. The Well and Other Stories by Nick Faragher
3. We Are Not in Pakistan by Shauna Singh Baldwin

Subjects: Short Fiction

Dreaming of a New World (p. 161 - 163)

by David Hackett Fischer

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Champlain's Dream by David Hackett Fischer

NCL Paperback History (p. 163 - 164)

by Janet Friskney

Book(s) reviewed:

1. New Canadian Library: The Ross-McClelland Years, 1952-1978 by Janet Friskney

Subjects: Canadian Studies

Legitimate Children (p. 164 - 165)

by Craig Howes

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Teaching Life Writing Texts by Miriam Fuchs and Craig Howes

Subjects: Life Writing

Apocalyptic Revisions (p. 165 - 166)

by Marlene Goldman

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Rewriting Apocalypse in Canadian Fiction by Marlene Goldman

Subjects: Literary Criticism

A Dramatic Life (p. 167)

by Sherrill Grace

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Making Theatre: A Life of Sharon Pollock by Sherrill Grace

Subjects: Literary Criticism, Theatre History

Stratterfly (p. 168 - 169)

by Jolly Gurbir

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Broadway North: The Dream of a Canadian Musical Theatre by Mel Atkey
2. Once Upon a Time in Bollywood: The Global Swing in Hindi Cinema by Jolly Gurbir, Zenia Wadhwani, and Deborah Barretto
3. The Decline of the Hollywood Empire by Hervé Fischer and Rhonda Mullins

Subjects: Film, Theatre History

Ce banal refus du silence (p. 169 - 170)

by Maurice Henrie

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Esprit de sel by Maurice Henrie

Subjects: Francophone

Hors-solitudes (p. 171 - 173)

by Claude Lalumière

Book(s) reviewed:

1. In Other Words: New English Writing from Quebec by Claude Lalumière
2. Migrance comparée / Comparing Migrations: Les littératures du Canada et du Québec / The Literatures of Canada and Québec by Catherine Khordoc and Marie Carrière

Subjects: Multiculturalism

Déjouer la fatalité (p. 173 - 174)

by Jimmy Thibeault

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Karma et coups de foudre by Claude Le Bouthillier

Subjects: Quebec

Brève beauté (p. 173)

by Émilie Théorêt

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Le Désaveuglé: Parcours de l'?vre de Robert Melançon by Yves Laroche

Subjects: Quebec

Canadians as Tourists (p. 174 - 175)

by Cecilia Morgan

Book(s) reviewed:

1. "A Happy Holiday": English Canadians and Transatlantic Tourism, 1870-1930 by Cecilia Morgan

Subjects: Canadian Studies, Travel Writing

The Utopia of a Remembered Spring (p. 176 - 178)

by Emily Wall

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Going Home by Ken Norris
2. The Commons by Stephen Collis
3. The Dream World by Alison Pick

Subjects: Poetry

The Old World and the New (p. 177 - 178)

by Britta Olinder

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Literary Environments: Canada and the Old World by Britta Olinder

Subjects: Canadian Studies, Literary Criticism

Indigenous Histories (p. 178 - 180)

by Daniel N. Paul

Book(s) reviewed:

1. We Were Not the Savages: Collision Between European and Native American Civilizations by Daniel N. Paul
2. Weasel Tail: Stories told by Joe Crowshoe Sr. (Aapohsoy'yiis), a Peigan Blackfoot elder by Michael Ross

Subjects: Native Studies

Canadian Forests (p. 180 - 181)

by David Brownstein

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Awful Splendour: A Fire History of Canada by Stephen J. Pyne
2. The Eternal Forest by George Stanley Godwin and Robert S. Thomson

Subjects: Ecocriticism

Visions (socio-)poétiques de Marie-Claire Blais (p. 181 - 182)

by Marilyn Randall

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Visions poétiques de Marie-Claire Blais by Janine Ricouart and Roseanna L. Dufault

Subjects: Literary Criticism

Trajets littéraires (p. 182 - 184)

by Marilou Potvin-Lajoie

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Horizons navigables by Andrée Laurier
2. Île était une fois by Pierre Chatillon
3. Mercredi soir au Bout du monde by Helene Rioux
4. Un café dans le Sud by Daniel Castillo Durante

Subjects: Quebec

Culinary Memoirs (p. 184 - 185)

by Nathalie Cooke

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Butter Cream: A Year in a Montreal Pastry School by Denise Roig
2. Culinary Landmarks: A Bibliography of Canadian Cookbooks, 1825-1949 by Elizabeth Driver

Subjects: Cultural Studies, Food

Two Literary Lives (p. 185 - 187)

by Val Ross

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Pierre Berton: A Biography by A. B. McKillop
2. Robertson Davies: A Portrait in Mosaic by Val Ross

Subjects: Biography

Comics Journalism (p. 187 - 188)

by Janice Morris

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Palestine: The Special Edition by Joe Sacco

Subjects: War

Traduire la poésie (p. 188 - 189)

by Patricia Godbout

Book(s) reviewed:

1. La prison magique by Charlotte Melançon
2. Le tamis des jours by Robyn Sarah and Marie Frankland

Subjects: Literary Criticism

A Walking Review (p. 189 - 191)

by Aaron Giovannone

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Borrowed Rooms by Barbara Pelman
2. Cypress by Barbara Klar
3. Late Nights With Wild Cowboys by Johanna Skibsrud
4. Nightmarker by Meredith Quartermain

Women Grappling with Time (p. 191 - 192)

by Nora Foster Stovel

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Adventures in the Spirit: The Older Woman in the Works of Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood, and Other Contemporary Women Writers by Phyllis Sternberg Perrakis
2. Divining Margaret Laurence: A Study of Her Complete Writings by Nora Foster Stovel

Subjects: Literary Criticism

Rebellious Causes (p. 192 - 194)

by Vern Thiessen

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Carmela's Table by Vittorio Rossi
2. The Oxford Roof Climber's Rebellion by Stephen Massicotte
3. Vimy by Vern Thiessen

Subjects: Drama, War

Chevaliers de la mémoire (p. 194 - 195)

by Maxime Prévost

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Aux chevaliers du noe“ud coulant by Rémi Tremblay

Subjects: Cultural Studies

Mourning the Past, Making the Future (p. 195 - 196)

by Priscila Uppal

Book(s) reviewed:

1. We Are What We Mourn: The Contemporary English Canadian Elegy by Priscilla Uppal

Subjects: Literary Criticism

50 ans d'Antonine Maillet (p. 196 - 197)

by Robert Viau

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Antonine Maillet: 50 ans d'écriture by Robert Viau

Subjects: Literary Criticism

Three Directions: One Terrain (p. 197 - 199)

by Zachariah Wells

Book(s) reviewed:

1. Jailbreaks: 99 Canadian Sonnets by Zachariah Wells
2. Looking for Lucy by Wanda Campbell
3. South of North: Images of Canada by Richard Outram, Rosemary Kilbourn, Thoreau MacDonald, and Anne Corkett