Reingard M. Nischik 
History of Literature in Canada 
English-Canadian and French-Canadian

The development of literature in Canada with an eye to its multicultural, multiethnic, multilingual nature.


From modest colonial beginnings, literature in Canada has arrived at the center stage of world literature. Works by English-Canadian writers — both established writers such as Margaret Atwood and new talents such as Yann Martel — make regular appearances on international bestseller lists. French-Canadian literature has also found its own voice in the North American and francophone worlds. ‚Can Lit‘ has likewise developed into a staple of academic interest, pursued in Canadian Studies programs in Canada and around the world. This volume draws on the expertise of scholars from Canada, Germany, Austria, and France, tracing Canadian literature from the indigenous oral tradition to thedevelopment of English-Canadian and French-Canadian literature since colonial times. Conceiving of Canada as a single but multifaceted culture, it accounts for specific characteristics of English- and French-Canadian literatures, such as the vital role of the short story in English Canada or that of the chanson in French Canada. Yet special attention is also paid to Aboriginal literature and to the pronounced transcultural, ethnically diverse character ofmuch contemporary Canadian literature, thus moving clearly beyond the traditions of the two founding nations.


Contributors: Reingard M. Nischik, Eva Gruber, Iain M. Higgins, Guy Laflèche, Dorothee Scholl, Gwendolyn Davies, Tracy Ware, Fritz Peter Kirsch, Julia Breitbach, Lorraine York, Marta Dvorak, Jerry Wasserman, Ursula Mathis-Moser, Doris G. Eibl, Rolf Lohse, Sherrill Grace, Caroline Rosenthal, Martin Kuester, Nicholas Bradley, Anne Nothof, Georgiana Banita, Gilles Dupuis, and Andrea Oberhuber.


Reingard M. Nischik is Professor of American Literature at the University of Constance, Germany.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: Writing a History of Literature in Canada – Reingard M. Nischik

Aboriginal Oral Traditions – Eva Gruber

The Whites Arrive: White Writing before Canada, 1000-1600 – Ian M. Higgins

Historical Background – Guy Laflèche

Literature on New France – Guy Laflèche

Colonial Literature in New France – Guy Laflèche

Historical Overview – Dorothee Scholl

English-Canadian Colonial Literature – Gwendolyn Davies

French-Canadian Colonial Literature under the Union Jack – Dorothee Scholl

English-Canadian Literature, 1867-1918: The Making of a Nation – Tracy Ware

French-Canadian Literature from National Soladarity to the École littéraire de Montréal – Fritz Peter Kirsch

Politics and Literature between Nationalism and Internationalism – Julia Breitbach

English-Canadian Poetry, 1920-1960 – Lorraine York

The English-Canadian Novel and the Displacement of the Romance – Marta Dvorak

The Modernist English-Canadian Short Story – Reingard M. Nischik

Early English-Canadian Theater and Drama – Jerry Wasserman

French Canada from the First World War to 1967: Historical Overview – Ursula Mathis-Moser

French-Canadian Poetry up to the 1960s – Ursula Mathis-Moser

The French-Canadian Novel between Tradition and Modernism – Doris G. Eibl

The French-Canadian Short Story – Doris G. Eibl

French-Canadian Drama from the 1930s to the Révolution tranquille – Dorothee Scholl

Socio-Political and Cultural Developments from 1967 to the Present – Sherrill Grace

English-Canadian Literary Theory and Literary Criticism – Caroline Rosenthal

The English-Canadian Novel from Modernism to Postmodernism – Martin Kuester

The English-Canadian Short Story since 1967: Between (Post)Modernism and (Neo)Realism – Reingard M. Nischik

English-Canadian Poetry from 1967 to the Present – Nicholas Bradley

Contemporary English-Canadian Drama and Theater – Anne Nothof

Canons of Diversity in Contemporary English-Canadian Literature – Georgiana Banita

Literature of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis – Eva Gruber

The Quebec Novel – Doris G. Eibl

The French-Canadian Short Prose Narrative – Doris G. Eibl

French-Canadian Poetry from 1967 to the Present – Ursula Mathis-Moser

Orality and the French-Canadian Chanson – Ursula Mathis-Moser

Drama and Theater from the Révolution tranquille to the Present – Dorothee Scholl

Transculturalism and
écritures migrantes – Gilles Dupuis

The Institutionalization of Literature in Quebec – Andrea Oberhuber