ENGL 2563 X1

CANADIAN LITERATURE 1

The course will provide an overview of significant developments in the history of Canadian literature in English up to World War II, stressing the influence of Canada's colonial heritage on the shaping of the country's literature. The course will address the historical contexts of the works under study and will examine important themes, issues, and aesthetic considerations. The course will examine the relationship between different stages of nation-building – exploration, settlement, the development of an industrial economy, the political formation of the nation-state, and the advent of modern Canadian society – and domestic literary production. In the process, we will explore significant literary forms, recurring themes and issues, and developments in the literary infrastructure and cultural sensibility of an emerging Canada.