Does Canadian Literature Need an Ethic of Discomfort? A Few Preliminary (and Cautious) Steps

Because of the historical hegemonies that structure our disciplinary field, it so happens that the literatures of the English-speaking world are implicitly understood as fitting neither the purview of “British” “USAmerican studies,” but corresponding to the shifting area that emerged with decoloniza...

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Main Author: Omhovère, Claire
Other Authors: Etudes montpelliéraines du monde anglophone (EMMA), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM), Fiona McMahon
Format: Conference Object
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://univ-montpellier3-paul-valery.hal.science/hal-04311529
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spelling ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-04311529v1 2023-12-31T10:06:56+01:00 Does Canadian Literature Need an Ethic of Discomfort? A Few Preliminary (and Cautious) Steps Omhovère, Claire Etudes montpelliéraines du monde anglophone (EMMA) Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM) Fiona McMahon Lille (journée d’étude en ligne), France 2021-03-25 https://univ-montpellier3-paul-valery.hal.science/hal-04311529 en eng HAL CCSD hal-04311529 https://univ-montpellier3-paul-valery.hal.science/hal-04311529 Webinaire CECILLE (ULR 4074) https://univ-montpellier3-paul-valery.hal.science/hal-04311529 Webinaire CECILLE (ULR 4074), Fiona McMahon, Mar 2021, Lille (journée d’étude en ligne), France Canadian literature CanLit Indigenous literature [SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject Conference papers 2021 ftccsdartic 2023-12-02T23:32:57Z Because of the historical hegemonies that structure our disciplinary field, it so happens that the literatures of the English-speaking world are implicitly understood as fitting neither the purview of “British” “USAmerican studies,” but corresponding to the shifting area that emerged with decolonization the 1960s, and to which the tag “post-colonial” has become attached. My own special enclave is Canadian studies in a greater ensemble where former plantation colonies such as the Caribbean coexist with settler-invader colonies like Australia and NZ. Every year in mid September Masters students come to my office to discuss the choice of a topic for their Master’s thesis. They bring suggestions often inspired by the charismatic (or sensational) highlights of the season, from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale to the memorial literature that has stemmed from a century and a half of forced assimilation, (cf. Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse). Although Indigenous writing and topics related to Indigenous history arouse a sincere interest (curiosity?) in my students, I must admit that I have grown increasingly uncomfortable with the position of expertise I assume when supervising research in this field. The question of the method, concepts, and critical distance required to study Indigenous texts and handle the knowledge they impart on the reader has therefore become a cause of unease over the years. It is this discomfort that I wish to look into today, envisaging my unease in relation to the position of First Nations literature within Canadian literature, an inclusion that many First Nations writers refute, calling for a separatist approach. But I will also be speaking of the role played by discomfort in canonical Canadian literature, an area known to experts in the field as “CanLit.” Conference Object First Nations Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe)
institution Open Polar
collection Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe)
op_collection_id ftccsdartic
language English
topic Canadian literature CanLit
Indigenous literature
[SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences
spellingShingle Canadian literature CanLit
Indigenous literature
[SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences
Omhovère, Claire
Does Canadian Literature Need an Ethic of Discomfort? A Few Preliminary (and Cautious) Steps
topic_facet Canadian literature CanLit
Indigenous literature
[SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences
description Because of the historical hegemonies that structure our disciplinary field, it so happens that the literatures of the English-speaking world are implicitly understood as fitting neither the purview of “British” “USAmerican studies,” but corresponding to the shifting area that emerged with decolonization the 1960s, and to which the tag “post-colonial” has become attached. My own special enclave is Canadian studies in a greater ensemble where former plantation colonies such as the Caribbean coexist with settler-invader colonies like Australia and NZ. Every year in mid September Masters students come to my office to discuss the choice of a topic for their Master’s thesis. They bring suggestions often inspired by the charismatic (or sensational) highlights of the season, from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale to the memorial literature that has stemmed from a century and a half of forced assimilation, (cf. Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse). Although Indigenous writing and topics related to Indigenous history arouse a sincere interest (curiosity?) in my students, I must admit that I have grown increasingly uncomfortable with the position of expertise I assume when supervising research in this field. The question of the method, concepts, and critical distance required to study Indigenous texts and handle the knowledge they impart on the reader has therefore become a cause of unease over the years. It is this discomfort that I wish to look into today, envisaging my unease in relation to the position of First Nations literature within Canadian literature, an inclusion that many First Nations writers refute, calling for a separatist approach. But I will also be speaking of the role played by discomfort in canonical Canadian literature, an area known to experts in the field as “CanLit.”
author2 Etudes montpelliéraines du monde anglophone (EMMA)
Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)
Fiona McMahon
format Conference Object
author Omhovère, Claire
author_facet Omhovère, Claire
author_sort Omhovère, Claire
title Does Canadian Literature Need an Ethic of Discomfort? A Few Preliminary (and Cautious) Steps
title_short Does Canadian Literature Need an Ethic of Discomfort? A Few Preliminary (and Cautious) Steps
title_full Does Canadian Literature Need an Ethic of Discomfort? A Few Preliminary (and Cautious) Steps
title_fullStr Does Canadian Literature Need an Ethic of Discomfort? A Few Preliminary (and Cautious) Steps
title_full_unstemmed Does Canadian Literature Need an Ethic of Discomfort? A Few Preliminary (and Cautious) Steps
title_sort does canadian literature need an ethic of discomfort? a few preliminary (and cautious) steps
publisher HAL CCSD
publishDate 2021
url https://univ-montpellier3-paul-valery.hal.science/hal-04311529
op_coverage Lille (journée d’étude en ligne), France
genre First Nations
genre_facet First Nations
op_source Webinaire CECILLE (ULR 4074)
https://univ-montpellier3-paul-valery.hal.science/hal-04311529
Webinaire CECILLE (ULR 4074), Fiona McMahon, Mar 2021, Lille (journée d’étude en ligne), France
op_relation hal-04311529
https://univ-montpellier3-paul-valery.hal.science/hal-04311529
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