Five-part invention : a history of literary history in Canada / E. D. Blodgett.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Blodgett suggests that each of the several 'national' groups that compose Canada develops unique narratives that demonstrate their different responses to the notion of nationhood and their sense of place within Canada's borders.

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CHOICE Review

Blodgett (emer., comparative literature, Univ. of Alberta) has produced a history of literary histories, reflecting diverse cultural evolution. Lengthy and comprehensive, the book is neither a list nor a catalog, but rather an annotated discussion and a thoughtful commentary on the various parts that make up the diverse whole of Canadian culture. In nine solid chapters, plus a useful introduction and a thought-provoking conclusion, he deals comparatively and chronologically with the five geographical and racial elements that comprise this cultural entity: English Canada, French Canada, the First Nations communities, Innuit communities, and the many immigrant groups (e.g., Ukrainian, Jewish, Hungarian, German). The last three chapters deal with alterity--the view from Europe, the view for Europeans, of Canadian cultural history and literature. Comfortable in both English and French languages and literatures, Blodgett demonstrates his wide reading of other literatures and familiarity with modern thinkers (Lacan, Merleau-Ponty, Benjamin, Foucault, and many more) as he moves easily from theory to practice, covering time and space, identifying literary manifestations of nation-building, treating questions of identity and multiculturalism, and proposing models and possibilities for the future. Full notes, bibliography, and chronological lists. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. J. Walker Queen's University at Kingston