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Literary Criticism Canadian

Margaret Laurence Writes Africa and Canada

by (author) Laura K. Davis

Publisher
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Initial publish date
May 2017
Category
Canadian, African, Women Authors
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781771121491
    Publish Date
    May 2017
    List Price
    $20.99
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781771121477
    Publish Date
    May 2017
    List Price
    $31.99
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781771121460
    Publish Date
    May 2017
    List Price
    $68.99

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Description

Margaret Laurence Writes Africa and Canada is the first book to examine how Laurence addresses decolonization and nation building in 1950s Somalia and Ghana, and 1960s and 1970s English Canada.
Focusing on Laurence’s published works as well as her unpublished letters not yet discussed by critics, the book articulates how Laurence and her characters are poised between African colonies of occupation during decolonization and the settler-colony of English Canada during the implementation of Canadian multiculturalism. Laurence’s Canadian characters are often divided subjects who are not quite members of their ancestral “imperial” cultures, yet also not truly “native” to their nation. Margaret Laurence Writes Africa and Canada shows how Laurence and her characters negotiate complex tensions between “self” and “nation,” and argues that Laurence’s African and Canadian writing demonstrates a divided Canadian subject who holds significant implications for both the individual and the country of Canada.
Bringing together Laurence’s writing about Africa and Canada, Davis offers a unique contribution to the study of Canadian literature. The book is an original interpretation of Laurence’s work and reveals how she displaces the simple notion that Canada is a sum total of different cultures and conceives Canada as a mosaic that is in flux and constituted through continually changing social relations.

About the author

Laura K. Davis teaches and researches in the areas of Canadian literature and writing studies at Red Deer College, Alberta. She has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Alberta, has published articles and reviews on Canadian literature, and is a co-author of the textbook, Essay Writing for Canadian Students, with Readings.

Laura K. Davis' profile page