History of Literature in Canada

From modest colonial beginnings literature in Canada has arrived at the center stage of world literature. Works by English-Canadian writers -- both established writers such as Margaret Atwood and new talents such as Yann Martel -- make regular appearances on international bestseller lists. French-Canadian literature has also found its own voice in the North American and francophone worlds. CanLit has likewise developed into a staple of academic interest pursued in Canadian Studies programs in Canada and around the world. This volume draws on the expertise of scholars from Canada Germany Austria and France tracing Canadian literature from the indigenous oral tradition to the development of English-Canadian and French-Canadian literature since colonial times. Conceiving of Canada as a single but multifaceted culture it accounts for specific characteristics of English- and French-Canadian literatures such as the vital role of the short story in English Canada or that of the chanson in French Canada. Yet special attention is also paid to Aboriginal literature and to the pronounced transcultural ethnically diverse character of much contemporary Canadian literature thus moving clearly beyond the traditions of the two founding nations. ~~~~~ CONTRIBUTORS: Georgiana Banita Nicholas Bradley Julia Breitbach Gwendolyn Davies Gilles Dupuis Marta Dvorak Doris G. Eibl Sherrill Grace Eva Gruber Iain M. Higgins Fritz Peter Kirsch Martin Kuester Guy Laflèche Rolf Lohse Ursula Mathis-Moser Reingard M. Nischik Anne Nothof Andrea Oberhuber Caroline Rosenthal Dorothee Scholl Tracy Ware Jerry Wasserman and Lorraine York. ~~~~~~~ REINGARD M. NISCHIK is Professor of American Literature at the University of Constance Germany.