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Literary Criticism Canadian

Divided Highways

Road Narrative and Nationhood in Canada

by (author) Heather Macfarlane

Publisher
Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa Press
Initial publish date
Jun 2019
Category
Canadian
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780776627731
    Publish Date
    Jun 2019
    List Price
    $29.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780776627755
    Publish Date
    Jun 2019
    List Price
    $19.99

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Description

The road trip genre, well established in the literatures of Canada, is a natural outcome of the nation’s obsession with geography. Divided Highways examines road trip works by Anglophone, Québécois and Indigenous authors and these communities’ sense of place and nationhood. The road trip genre, well established in the literatures of Canada, is a natural outcome of the nation’s obsession with geography. Divided Highways examines road narratives by Anglo-Canadian, Québécois and Indigenous authors and the sense of place and nationhood in these communities. Geography describes the land, and history peoples it, just as memories connect us to place. This is why road trips are such a feature of writing in Canada, allowing the travelers to claim, at least symbolically, the terrain they have traversed.
Macfarlane examines works by a variety of writers from each of these communities, including Gilles Archambault, Jeannette Armstrong, Jill Frayne, Tomson Highway, Claude Jasmin, Robert Kroetsch, Jacques Poulin, Aritha van Herk and Paul Villeneuve, to name but a few.
Studying a diversity of road narratives from Anglo-Canadian, Québécois and Indigenous populations not only demonstrates the existence of a very specific road genre, but is also revelatory of very diverse and often conflicting perceptions of nationhood. It is these expressions of sovereignty that are integral to ongoing discussions of reconciliation and decolonization.
Published in English.

About the author

Heather Macfarlane is Adjunct Professor at Queen’s University and teaches Canadian and Indigenous Literatures. Her publications include an anthology of critical works on Indigenous literatures, and papers on literature produced in Canada in both English and French.

Heather Macfarlane's profile page

Excerpt: Divided Highways: Road Narrative and Nationhood in Canada (by (author) Heather Macfarlane)

Studying a diversity of road narratives from Anglo-Canadian, Québécois, and Indigenous populations not only demonstrates the existence of a very specific road genre, but is also revelatory of very diverse and often conflicting perceptions of nationhood.