The Search for English-Canadian Literature : : An Anthology of Critical Articles from the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries / / ed. by Carl Ballstadt.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Archive 1933-1999
• MitwirkendeR: Adam, G. Mercer,; Adam, Graeme Mercer,; Anonymous,,; Barr, Robert,; Chisholme, David,; Cooper, John A.,; Cross, Ethelbert F. H.,; Dawson, Samuel E.,; De Mille, A. B.,; Doull, I. Cyrus,; Duncan, Sara Jeannette,; Edgar, Pelham,; Fraser, W. A.,; Haliburton, R. G.,; Harte, W. Blackburn,; Jack, I. Allen,; Knister, Raymond,; Lampman, Archibald,; Logan, J. D.,; Logan, John E.,; Mair, Charles,; McGee, Thomas D\x27Arcy,; Mowat, J. Gordon,; O’Loane, L.,; Robins, J. D.,; Scott, Duncan Campbell,; Seymour MacLean, Kate,; Smith, Goldwin,; Stevenson, Lionel,; Stewart, George,; Sutherland, J. C.,; Tempest, Basil,; W.P.C.,,; Waldron, Gordon,; Wilson, Daniel,
• HerausgeberIn: Ballstadt, Carl,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2016]; ©1975
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Series: Heritage
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (266 p.)

The search for a distinctive Canadian literature is not new. It began in the 1820s, and even then involved many of the same issues that concern critics today. Much of this early material is now inaccessible to most Canadians. Carl Ballstadt has selected for this volume a number of the most importance statements from a century of growth. The pieces come from essays, prefaces, and editorials published between 1823 and 1926 in a variety of works including the major literary periodicals of the time. Among the authors are Thomas D’Arcy McGee, Sara Jeannette Duncan, Daniel Wilson, Goldwin Smith, G. Mercer Adam, Pelham Edgar, J.D. Robins, J.D. Logan, and Charles Mair. The major themes they treated, with frequent diversity of views, are the kind of writing best suited to a new country; the economic and spiritual barriers to the creation of literature; the feasibility of creating a ‘national’ literature; the need for serious criticism; the relationship between European traditions and the developing Canadian imagination; Canada’s ‘northern’ character; the advantages of two cultural streams; and the significance of Canadian achievements in poetry. This book provides essential background to anyone concerned with the path Canadian literature followed to modern times.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Preface -- Contents -- Introduction -- Part 1. The Early Realism -- Introduction to The Canadian Magazine and Literary Repository -- Essay on the Advantages That Might be Derived from the Establishment of a Literary Association in Montreal -- Our Literature Present and Prospective -- Canadian Poetry -- Part 2. Cultural Economics and Canadian Philistinism -- Protection for Canadian Literature -- Literature, Nationality, and the Tariff -- Saunterings -- American Influence on Canadian Thought -- Part 3. The Quality of Literary Criticism -- Criticism -- Native Literature and the Scoffing Spirit -- Literary Criticism: Its Scope and Effect -- On Criticism -- On Realism and Romance -- Literature in Canada: Part Two -- The Purpose of a National Magazine -- Part 4. The Debate on a ‘National’ Literature -- Our Chances for a Literature -- What is the Matter with Canadian Literature? -- Mr. Goldwin Smith and Canadian Literature -- The Mental Outfit of the New Dominion -- Education and National Sentiment -- Should Our Literature Be Canadian? -- A Fresh View of Canadian Literature -- National Literature -- Part 5. Europe and the Canadian Imagination -- The Academy and the Grove in Canada -- Backgrounds of Future Canadian Poetry -- Apollo and Tomkins -- Poetic Art in Canada -- Part 6. The Northern Nation -- The New Canada -- On Northern Culture -- Literature -- Part 7. The Advantage of Two Cultures -- Letters in Canada -- Nationalism and the Literary Spirit -- A Plea for Literature -- Part 8. The Character and Achievement of Canadian Poetry -- Canadian Poetry: A Criticism -- Canadian Poetry; A Word in Vindication -- A Decade of Canadian Poetry -- The Genius of Canadian Poetry -- The Poetry of Common Things -- Some Canadian Writers of Today -- A New Conception -- The Status of Overseas Literature -- Canadian Letter -- Backmatter