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History • Politics • Religion religions of the americas series jennifer reid is professor of religion at the University of Maine, Farmington. She received her PhD from the University of Ottawa. She is the author of Myth, Symbol and Colonial Encounter, Worse Than Beasts: An Anatomy of Melancholy and the Literature of Travel in 17th and 18th Century England, as well as numerous articles on the history of religion. She edited the volume Religion and Global Culture: New Terrain in the Study of Religion. University of New Mexico Press unmpress.com 800-249-7737 isbn 978-0-8263-4415-1 ËxHSKIMGy344151zv*:+:!:+:! “More has been written about Louis Riel . . . than about any Canadian of his or any other century. Still he remains an elusive figure, for he embodies more of the axes of difference in the national self-image than almost anyone in Canada’s history. A compelling leader, Riel nevertheless saw visions that were prophetic as well as political. He is credited with helping to found the province of Manitoba, yet he was executed in 1885 as a traitor to Canada. Once reviled as an enemy of the state, he stands today as a hero to Westerners, as well as to Native, Métis (mixed-race), and French-speaking people throughout North America. How was an insurrectionist in one era resurrected as a ‘mythic figure’ in another? Jennifer Reid endeavors to answer this question, while explaining in detail the position that Riel occupies in the perennial Canadian controversies over collective identities—civic, racial, or linguistic—and the role that his historical example plays in Canadian ideas of patriotism and citizenship.” —Kevin J. Christiano, University of Notre Dame, Past President, American Council for Québec Studies “Reid addresses an important question in Canadian studies, centering on Canadian identity or identities, with its associated questions regarding the lack of a common historical foundational myth and historical narrative. She . . . unpacks the issues in relation to Louis Riel, and then concludes in a succinct, articulate, and meaningful way. She also suggests a way out of the usual conundrums raised by various attempts at explaining the meaning of the Canadian experience. This book should provoke some interesting debates.” —Robert Choquette, University of Ottawa “Louis Riel envisioned Canada as an international role model for a new kind of state. . . . Tracing Riel’s life, ideas, and image, Jennifer Reid creates a vivid account and fresh appraisal of turning points that shape Canada’s complex self-image: rebellions, uprisings, trials, treaties, charters, court decisions, and constitutional acts down to the present day. Beautifully written and deeply probing, Louis Riel and the Creation of Modern Canada weaves the strands of Canadian identity—French, Anglo, Aboriginal, Métis, and immigrant communities from across the globe—into a finely hued tapestry, a twenty-first century portrait. Reid offers new perspective and crafts new language to answer the question, ‘What kind of nation will Canada desire to be?’” —Lawrence E. Sullivan, University of Notre Dame davíd carrasco and charles h. long, Series Editors ...

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