Canadian literature

Canadian literature may be divided in two parts, somewhat like a tree with two great roots. One root is the deeply buried culture of France. The other is just as deeply buried in the traditions of England. One part of Canadian literature is written in French, the other in English. But the branches of this tree are purely Canadian. Authors and readers of each literature are gaining more and more knowledge of the other, in the original or in translation.

Traits of Canadian literature

The findings of those who believe that there is a distinctly Canadian body of literature include a prevalence of the following traits, in no particular order.

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• Humour: Canadians do not shy away from serious subject matter, but they have often approached it using humour. Humour is the Canadian way of approaching difficult or sensitive subjects. See also: Canadian humour.
• Satire and irony: If Canadian literature had to be distilled into a single word, for the sake of comparison with all other literatures, that word would be "satire". Satire has jokingly been called Canada's national sport. From its three famous contemporary television political satire shows, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Rick Mercer Report and Royal Canadian Air Farce back to Thomas Chandler Haliburton's The Clockmaker, Canadians have used satire not only to entertain, but also to promote societal reform.
• The underdog hero: if a Canadian novel has a hero at all, it is likely to be of the "underdog" type. An ordinary, everyday person overcomes a large corporation, a bank, a rich tycoon, a government, a natural disaster, etc.
• Urban vs. rural: The underdog hero ties in with an urban vs. rural theme which has often popped up in Canadian fiction and poetry, and usually portrays the rural as morally superior to the city, which is portrayed as shallow and seedy. Often, as in Stephen Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, the simplicity of rural living is presented as something being lost as people move to cities. Ironically, there is a strong current of rural poetry building in cities like Toronto. Some recent examples of this include Paul Vermeersch`s rural Ontarian book of poetry, Burn, John Stiles' Annapolis Valley influenced Scouts are Cancelled, Adam Getty`s Reconciliation, Chris Banks' Bonfires. The current rise in poetry titles suggests a desire to document a nation that is regionally distinctive from town to town not just province to province.
• Nature (and a "human vs. nature" tension): Reference to nature is prolific in Canada's literature. Nature, while often interpreted as the enemy in some Canadian works, can also be interpreted as divine and ideal in others.
• Mild anti-Americanism: While not evident in every piece of work by a Canadian, there has unmistakably been an ongoing anti-American theme from time to time in Canada's literary history, often taking the form of gentle satire. It cannot be described as malicious (although at Canadian literature's beginning, re-invasion by the U.S. was a legitimate fear), but is better seen as mild sibling rivalry, and may tie in with Canada's loyalty to the underdog as opposed to the haughty hero, two roles played by Canada and the U.S. in Canadian mythology.
• Self-deprecation: Canadian literature, while often implying an underlying love and concern for the nation, is not rah-rah patriotic propaganda. There is, on the contrary, often self-deprecation within its pages. Canadians have been known to be good at laughing at themselves, which ties in nicely with their ability for satire and humour.
• Self-evaluation by the reader: "We might ... wonder how 'Canadian Literature' differs from 'English Literature' or 'American Literature.'... What has remained constant throughout this short history of Canadian Literature is that it offers readers a way of both imagining and questioning ourselves and the cultures around us." (-Dr. Glen Lowry, Coquitlam College)
• Southern Ontario Gothic: A sub-genre which critiques the stereotypical Protestant mentality of Southern Ontario; many of Canada's most internationally famous authors wrote in this style.