Review by: Niloy Mukherjee
Research Scholar (English), Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow.
Issues in Canadian Literature
Alka Singh (editor)
Publisher: Yking
Books, Jaipur
Year: 2016
p.149
Price: ₹ 725.00
Northrop Frye in his The Bush
Garden: Essays on the Canadian Imagination (1971) writes “(For) the traveler from
Europe…, to enter the United States is a matter of crossing an ocean; to
enter Canada is a matter of being silently swallowed by an alien continent.”
Much has changed since then, particularly post the 1970s, when the borders of
Canada were opened for the Asian immigrants, and subsequently, they made their
voices heard in Canadian writings, making contemporary Canadian literature
reflect a complex cultural mosaic. The anthology Issues in Canadian Literature compiled and edited by Dr. Alka Singh
presents a set of eleven research papers and an interview, all of which deal
with different trends and patterns in contemporary Canadian literature.
Arun Kumar Yadav’s paper “Recurring Issues in Canadian Literature”
provides an insight into Canadian literature as a whole, “discussing the issues
that are vital to the study of literature and humanities in Canada.” The paper
elaborates on some leading Canadian authors and the seminal issues in their
works. Kulwant Singh’s “Ecocritical Reading of Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing” notes that “a questioning
stance towards the patriarchal hegemony in the universe can be observed
throughout Surfacing.. Having
rejected the male construction of the “feminine” woman, the surface changes
into a “natural woman”” who will
possibly subvert the social order in order to protect the
environment/mother-earth/women. Shubham Singh’s “The Ubiquity of Visual
Component in the Poetry of D. G. Jones” argues that the visual component of
Jone’s poetry is ubiquitous and serves a two-fold purpose. “Firstly, it
emphasizes the theme of his poems and outlines the idea of wilderness as the
key feature in contemporary Canadian verse. Secondly, it communicates the
poet’s response to his immediate environment and how the reflections come to
colour the imagination of the perceptive reader to create an everlasting
impact.” Shubham Singh’s next article “Gender Roles in Alice Munro’s Fiction”
analyses the short stories of Munro to infer that, in her works, “the dynamics
of gender relations establishes an order where even though a woman feels she
wields power, she is in fact, essentially a pawn on the imaginary chessboard
and is, time and again, required to move in accordance with the wishes of the
man.” Sushma Rani’s paper “Exploration of Self in Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners” deals with “the feeling of
isolation and alienation” of the female protagonist Morag in one of her
Manawaka novels, The Diviners. The
paper analyses how Morag frequently confronts her “ancestral history and
individual past” on her path of personal development, thereby achieving “the
deeper understanding and fuller appreciation of life that culminate in the
development of survival ethic.” Deepshikha Karthik’s “Oral Tradition and
Mythology: A Reading of Maria Campbell’s Little
Badger and the Fire Spirit” observes that “Maria Campbell and other native
authors have presented their philosophical and spiritual perspectives” about
the world through their tales that highlight traditional oral literature or
storytelling practice in Canada, thus enlightening the younger generation with
their vision and wisdom. Vineet Kumar’s article “Reading First Nations in
Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water”
analyses King’s work to assert that an optimistic attitude and a winning
mentality rather than a pessimistic attitude and victim mentality will build
the native community of the First Nations, and “that the Native Nation will
build its future with successive small but eloquent victories that will nurture
an assertiveness.” Arpit Katiyar’s paper “Aboriginal Issues in the Plays of
Marie Clements” deals with the “mainstream dismissal and degradation of missing
and murdered aboriginal women” and investigates the major issues of “identity
crisis (of aboriginal women) with special reference to the plays of Marie
Clements.” The paper explores “governmental policies disenfranchising
aboriginal women and enforcing the removal of aboriginal children into residual
schools and white foster homes.” It further establishes Aunt Shadie as a maternal
metaphor and argues that Clement’s play offers a “maternal counter-narrative to
dominant discourses of Aboriginal womanhood as promiscuous and alcoholic.
Bhashkra Charya’s article “Quest of Gratification through Transgression in
Patrick de Witt’s The Three Brothers”
examines the narrative style of the author that makes his protagonist an
endearing character “despite his actions, no matter how terrible”, and makes
the reader empathise with the Sister brothers even as they undertake the most
gory missions. Alka Singh’s “Badlands:
In the Alleys of Postmodernism” traces the patterns of postmodernism in Robert
Kroetsch’s Badlands as revealed
through the field notes of William Dawe and the narratorial voice of Anna Dawe.
The analysis infers that “in the deconstructive enterprise, the new land, like
language itself, is still used to construct meaning; but at the same time, it
must re-enter the discourse as precisely that which, endlessly and inevitably,
subverts meaning again and again.” Mohd. Tariq’s paper “Reading Nostalgia in
Uma Parameswaran’s “Trishanku: A Cycle of Voices”” observes how the South Asian
Canadian diasporic writer Parameshwaran offers “an out of India experience” in
her poem, relating diasporas and homeland through an element of nostalgia. This
nostalgia “becomes a kind of connecting link between the source culture and the
target culture” and helps trace “the complex relationship between immigrant and
homeland.” The interface of R. P. Singh with Allison McWood on Canadian drama
is simultaneously informative and entertaining, providing the readers an
insight into the playwright’s own works and her personal views and perspectives
about Canadian drama, its yesterday and tomorrow.
The omission of an article mentioned in the introduction - “World War II
and the Struggle of Women in Gabrielle Roy’s The Tin Flute” by Shazia Khatoon - irks the reader. The papers by Deepshikha Karthik, Bhashkra
Charya and Mohd. Tariq are more descriptive than analytical. However, as a
whole, the book is a good read for those hoping to get acquainted with
different facets of contemporary Canadian literature and is recommendable for
personal reference and libraries.
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