ReCalling Early Canada: Reading the Political in Literary and Cultural Production (Currents in Canadian Literature) Review

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ReCalling Early Canada: Reading the Political in Literary and Cultural Production (Currents in Canadian Literature) ReviewIn ReCalling Early Canada: Reading the Political in Literary and Cultural Production, twelve scholars perform and critique acts of "recall", their subjects ranging from 19th century fiction to 20th century acts of parliament. In so doing, the writers strike familiar chords in Canadian literature criticism--feminism, postcolonialism, nationalism--on unfamiliar texts--the work of West Coast artist Frederick Alexcee and B.C. photograph archives, to name but two.
Indeed, the unfamiliarity of many of the texts discussed (except to a few Canlit scholars and trivia buffs) constitutes much of the collection's value. And if, as a student of Canadian literature, names such as Napoleon Bourassa, William Kirby, and Letitia Mactavish Hargrave (three of the writers discussed) do not ring a bell, those of Benedict Anderson, Ann McClintock, Terry Goldie, Michel Foucault, and Northrop Frye (who serve as critical touchstones in the volume) probably will. A nodding acquaintance with these usual suspects of litcrit will serve you well as you delve into this recollection of early Canada--as an English BA I was able to follow, more or less, the various arguments, and only occasionally found myself dizzied by the cross-currents of critical jargon. Unfortunately, I found that my zeal for further reading was sometimes frustrated by inadequate cross-referencing between the articles and the bibliography: some citations are hard to identify, others appear to be missing. Nonetheless, with primary texts as little-studied as many of those taken up here, any article can be a goldmine. Moreover, the volume's appeal extends beyond specific research interests.
The collection follows a few key themes--gender, race, and the canon spring quickly to mind--and the editors have created a text in which diverse scholars cross and combine fruitfully. For instance, Jennifer Blair's article on 19th century nun's tales and Kate Higginson's critique of Theresa Gowanlock's and Theresa Delaney's captivity narratives examine similar discourses of femininity and their production and circulation in 19th century Canadian society. Perhaps because I've read neither primary text, I found the two articles more illuminating in combination than separately, and I found this experience repeated throughout the volume. Pairs of articles often complete each other: Andrea Cabajsky makes a lengthy and eloquent argument for greater comparative study of French and English Canadian literature; R. D. Stacey's chapter, which immediately follows, executes just such a comparison of 19th century historical fiction. The articles in ReCalling Early Canada were developed for and at a 2003 conference of the same name; the thematic coherence and complementarity of the collection recreate the "stimulating intellectual companionship" of that event (Blair et al., xiv).
Finally, I appreciated this collection's concern for contemporary acts of recall. To a greater or lesser extent, each chapter sheds light not just on literary and cultural production in "early Canada," but the ways in which that literary and cultural production, and early Canada itself, are framed in more recent acts of recall. The collection not only draws attention to little-known, little-studied aspects of Canada's literary and cultural history, but urges the reader toward a more critical appraisal of Canadian history-making.ReCalling Early Canada: Reading the Political in Literary and Cultural Production (Currents in Canadian Literature) Overview

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