Postcolonial Literatures in English: Canadian Literatures

Konrad Gross, Jutta Zimmermann (Eds.)

Postcolonial Literatures in English: Canadian Literatures

ISBN 978-3-86821-347-8, 264 S., kt., € 25,00 (2012)

(PCLE - Postcolonial Literatures in English, Bd. 4)

Postcolonial Literatures in English have become a central field of research and study all over the world. This series of introductory readers covers (1) South Asian Literatures, (2) Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Literatures, (3) African Literatures, (4) Canadian Literatures, (5) Caribbean Literatures and (6) Black and Asian British Literatures. The edited collections of source materials are designed to help students and teachers in exploring the diversity of the global cultural networks which have arisen from the British Empire and Commonwealth. Each volume contains an introduction that sketches out major trends and developments in the region and provides recommendations for further reading. The specificities of each respective region are explored within a framework focussing on histories, identities, language, education, movements and genres, as well as transcultural perspectives.

'Canadian literatures' in the plural reflects controversial debates about Canada's national identity and its qualification as postcolonial. The First Nations and Inuit most obviously qualify as post-colonial, as Native cultures today have been shaped by both Western and indigenous cultural traditions. Yet it is Native writers who object to the term post-colonial because they resist the implication that European colonization marks the beginnings of Canadian history. French Canadians also claim post-colonial status. Ever since the French defeat against Britain in 1763, Quebec has been struggling for cultural survival in a predominantly English-speaking North American environment. Quebec nationalism arises from the French Canadian claim to being one of the two 'founding nations'. Successive ethnic groups and visible minorities have similarly identified their relations to English Canada as internal colonialism. Such structural inequalities, however, exist at the same time as Canada as a nation grapples with its postcolonial status towards Great Britain as well as its neo-colonial relation towards the United States. This volume introduces the complexities of Canada's postcolonial situation and traces the historical sources of Canada's multicultural present.

Buchvorschau / Inhaltsverzeichnis (pdf)

Pressestimmen

"Gross and Zimmermann have assembled an astonishing number of texts from a variety of fields and genres. The book provides a valuable overview of and introduction to key moments and documents in Canadian history and culture. As a volume that targets a European rea-dership not yet familiar with Canadian Studies this book is a good start for everyone interested in the field."

Julia Michael, KULT_online 36 (2013)

"Der Band macht seine Leserinnen und Leser nicht nur auf sehr differenzierte Weise mit den Literaturen und Kulturen Kanadas sowie den sie begleitenden akademischen Diskursen vertraut, sondern spiegelt, wie von den Reihenherausgebern gewünscht, auch die Entwicklung und die Paradigmenwechsel im Bereich der Postcolonial Studies wider. Er wird Studierenden der Kanadistik und einer an Kanada interessierten Leserschaft nachdrücklich zur Lektüre empfohlen."

Wolfgang Klooß, Literaturwissenschaftliches Jahrbuch 55 (2014)