Working in English: History, Institution, Resources by Heather Murray (review)

HUMANITIES 111 The text of this publication, derived from the proceedings of a conference held inFrench and in English, is in French and/or in English. Only the table of contents, foreword, preface, and introduction are translated; otherwise the presentations are published in the language of the presenter. This certainly relates well with the theme of the colloquium, and is also inspirational on a national level. However, at the end of each paper, a brief summary in the other official language of the conference might have been welcomed by some readers. Similarly, although the contributors are evidently acknowledged international experts in their fields, I would have found it useful to have immediate access to some biographical and current bibliographical information, either in a general appendix or at the end of each section. Leslie Armour, in his'introduction, provides a brief subjective commentary on each presentation, as well as, in some cases, background information on that participant, reference material that could have been made more easily accessible. This book will no doubt occupy an important place in the Canadian Studies reference section of all research libraries. (RAYMOND BRAZEAU) Heather Murray. Working in English: History, Institution, Resources University of Toronto Press. xi, 254. $45.00 cloth, $16.95 paper Heather Murray's fine book could hardly be timelier, and is important for the work it seeks to stimulate as well as for what it itself achieves. Demonstrating again and again the benefits of combining careful historical research with rigorous theoretical reflection, Murray contextualizes particularsorts ofacademic value and practiceinways thatleavethe reader with a firm sense of where the discipline of English has come from, and what instititutional changes might be necessary to alter its current course and emphases. , The title of this book accurately indicates what Murray achieves. She is interested primarilyin process and ftmctionality, and how particular kinds ofdisciplinary labour havebeen organizedinCanada over the pastcentury or so. This foregrounding of work is deftly connected to the current resource crisis in the humanities, even as Murray insists that we need a fuller historical base on which to assess past achievements and f~shion an appropriate future for English studies in Canada. She shifts attention from what seems now a highly profeSSionalized activity pursued in elite institutions 'down [in social rank] and back [in time]' so that we can better appreciate the broad range of social and economic forces which detennine academic practices at particular historical moments. Murray is determined to be more inclusive about Canadian 'English' than ever before so that the limits to disciplinary and institutional inclusion can be better W1derstood 112. LETTERS IN CANADA COlffit)rehe:nsilve ruS:tOl1.C'U studies.' Some readers ruscorme,ctelj, but I see 'l"o"~nn.nc"uo to all sincere in its commitment Pfl:)PCJSltlO,n that no one can see the whole or tell the whole is a lot more work to be done in this area, and I\A,u...."'...,' but lnvites us to on with it so that we can better ....IJI....J,......."u. the values that animate our OUI research and administrative work within a institutions. In some of the and the power structure withln what counts as v ..,,,nTH."",", reads CO]rtUaOlCrJtOn as well as for resistance to as well as ratification the status quo, and insists that her audience reflect on relations between social and academic rm~rarcl11es, ..':)n-'A.... 'OlI corrunon on which ffi<:reiiSlltlgJy Sl)eClarlzea articulate a sense of collective DUmC)Se the HUMAN1TIES 113 must be emp1.lasized, a far from hegemonic role - in the creation and placement of a national citizenry' seems to be tmdercut by Murray's later insistence on the status and promise of English as 'education for powerthrough -symbolic-controlin our culture, and as more than a "humanizing" face for tedmological study.' Such tensions in her work deserve further _explorationby readers determined to understand the complexbut only too workable connections between education and society. In the meantime, Murray has added her own important thoughts on 'populist and progressive education' to what she calls 'an unbroken legacy of progressive voices in the Canadian university/ a legacy currently in danger of being devalued or squandered in a nwnber of jurisdictions across this country. (LEN FINDLAY) Timothy J. McGee, editor. Taking a Stand: Essays in Honour ofJohn Beckwith University of Toronto Press 1995. x, 315. $70.00 This is an impressive and felicitously assembled collection of essays which not only pays homage to the many-sided contributions ofJohn Beckwith to music in Canada and its representation abroad, but also reflects, like so many resonances, the remarkable diversity and depth of his life-work. Texts on compositions,including two of Beckwith's own, music education, comparisons between American and Canadian approaches to musicmaking , church-practices and popular genres, patronage, as well as historiography and socio-musicology, all Bec.kwithian concerns, are all represented here. Of the four essays on composition three focus on works in which references to other, older, musics, in the form of quotation, constitute an important feature. While one is reluctant to make too much of this in such a smallsample,itnevertheless invites mentioning. Alan M. Gillmor projects an insightful and broad framework for my Simulacrum. One is grateful for his references here to the novelist Theresa de Kerpely as well as for those to Lasz16 Gyopar, the composer, who lost his life in tragic circumstances in the summer of 1944, on the German/Hungarian-Russian front, at the age of twenty-six. In his discussion ofJo1m Hawkins's Remembrances, Don McLean undertakes to explore the device of quotation itself. When is it 'intuitively musical' and when'a type ofWlbidden mental intrusion, or a triggered free association'? When is it 'a homage or parody'? He refers to A. Koestler's notion of bisociation and adds: 'Every juxtaposition, after all, has the potential to be received as revelation, or as nonsense.' All this is useful to be reminded of, yet no 'theory' emerges at the end. Gail Dixon in her painstaking analysis of Beckwith's Etudes focuses primarily on pitch structure, showmg the overall harmony existingbetween ...