This paper argues that Lynn Coady’s Saints of Big Harbour (2002) resists the static and stereotypical portrayal of place and identity often associated with Atlantic-Canadian culture and literature by portraying the participation of the adolescent characters (in early 1980s Cape Breton) in a transnational popular culture rather than an "authentic" local folk culture, by emphasizing the banal sameness rather than the unique particularities of Cape Breton, by downplaying the impact of geography on identity formation, and by critiquing the parochial and localist understandings of place associated with some of the adult characters. In doing so, Saints articulates an understanding of place as unfixed and porous rather than as static and bounded, and thus provides a portrait of Cape Breton as part of not apart from the contemporary world.
Please note that works on the Canadian Literature website may not be the final versions as they appear in the journal, as additional editing may take place between the web and print versions. If you are quoting reviews, articles, and/or poems from the Canadian Literature website, please indicate the date of access.