Gothic Canada: Reading the Spectre of a National Literature

by Justin D. Edwards

Canadians have always been obsessed with the idea of their own identities. Stories that tell us who we are provide a reassuring sense of identity for the individual and the nation. Hockey. Maple Leaves. Beavers. But collective stories tend to be haunted by a fear that a shared narrative might be nothing more than an elaborate artifice. This fear has long been a source of gothic inspiration for Canadian writers. A haunted Canadian self returns again and again. Polite. Friendly. Not American. With examples of gothic discourse from Canadian fiction, autobiography, film, poetry, and drama, Justin Edwards analyzes the ghost at the heart of the nation. A major contribution to cultural and literary studies, Gothic Canada unearths two centuries of Canadian gothic writings to reveal uncanny traditions of trauma, repression, and monstrosity.

Genres: Horror

232 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although Mr. Edwards has introduced me to several novels I'm eager to read, I had some real problems with his attempt to explore Gothic elements in Canadian literature. For one thing, it seems very strange that he never mentions Timothy Findley, the writer who coined the term "Canadian Gothic" to describe his own works. There's a whopper of an historical error in his consideration of Brad Fraser's "Unidentified Human Remains and the True Meaning of Love." Sorry, but it wasn't Fraser who spurred the move to urban, contemporary subjects in Canadian drama. That would be Michel Tremblay over a decade before Fraser produced his major works. In addition, I don't think Mr. Edwards does a good job of defining the Gothic before he starts applying it. Fortunately, the work has a very good bibliography that has helped direct me to some other works on the subject.