Is Canada Postcolonial?: Unsettling Canadian Literature

Preface

Is Canada Postcolonial? Unsettling Canadian Literature I first posed the question “Is Canada Postcolonial?” in a paper at the 1999 Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English (accute) Conference in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Since the topic was clearly beyond the scope of a single paper, the “Is Canada Postcolonial ?” Conference was organized in 2000 at the University of Manitoba. In the call for papers beside the central “Is Canada Postcolonial?” question , several other related questions were also suggested for possible consideration. These included: Do theories associated with postcolonialism —such as those concerned with marginality, power, alterity, resistance, and historical revisionism—apply constructively into a Canadian context? Is postcolonial theory in Canada racially or culturally grounded? What is the nature of postcoloniality in a global economic situation? Are some Canadian writers more postcolonial than others? Can postcolonial theory be fruitfully applied to First Nations literatures? Is it possible for the discussion of postcoloniality to go beyond contemporary writing to include writing from earlier times? (Or, is The History of Emily Montague postcolonial?) What is gained for the literature of Canada by conferring or denying postcolonial status? Many of these questions were debated at the conference. Some participants chose to approach the questions through close readings of individual texts, while others chose to directly address the intersection of postcolonial theory and Canadian literary culture. There were a surprising number of papers interested in nineteenth-century L A U R A M O S S Preface Notes are on page viii. v Canadian literary works and a not very surprising focus on literature by First Nations writers. Most of the papers in this collection began at the conference. The conference, however, was only the starting point of discussion for the participants. Since the fall of 2000, participants have been in dialogue with one another and carried on the discussions begun in Winnipeg . The essays of those present at the conference have been substantially revised in light of the lively debate and the rigorous comments of the audience, and in light of the comments by the readers who reviewed their papers for this collection. As well, the collection introduces a few new voices into the mix. George Elliott Clarke’s essay, for example, speaks to an editorial desire to widen the terms of discussion and the parameters of Canadian literature. The collection is driven by a shared concern with the place of Canadian literature in ever-evolving literary theories and the place of Canada in theories and practices of nationalism, postnationalism, and postcolonialism. Such places, however, differ for each of the authors. I have encouraged diversity instead of superimposing some kind of unifying critical methodology. Each paper addresses the question “Is Canada Postcolonial?” either in brief or in full. The responses to the question range from the wholehearted inclusion of Canada and the other “invader-settler” countries in postcolonial studies to a vehement rejection of examining these contexts in such terms. No two contributors seem to agree on precisely what “Canada” and, more contentiously, “postcolonial” mean or what the answers might be. I have chosen not to standardize the spelling of “postcolonial,” “post-colonial,” or “postColonial ” because the subtle distinctions (the hyphen and choice of case) are telling reminders of the variety of definitions of the word at work in the collection.1 Indeed definitions proposed by some can be seen to be on a collision course with those proposed by others. This might be because of the contentious nature of the issues raised. It might also be because so much of postcolonial theory is manufactured and imported to Canada from the United States, Australia, Britain, India, and other locations outside Canada that terms manufactured elsewhere sometimes fit uneasily, if at all, into a Canadian context. Overall, however , the essays do engage with a remarkable degree of consistency with issues such as displacement, hybridity, collaboration, memory, ambivalence , and syncretism in a Canadian context. Of central concern is how Canadian literature engages with British and American (cultural) imperialism and neo-imperialism; positions First Nations literatures; vi P R E F A C E rethinks history in colonial and chronologically post-colonial works of fiction and poetry; examines constructions of race and ethnicity in poetry and prose; explores the flawed memory of Canadians; differentiates between multicultural policy and practice; undergoes canonical revision; and “writes back” to colonial education. W.H. New begins his chapter on Canada in his 1975 introduction to Commonwealth and...