Friday, April 20, 2007

wheels are in motion or emoting or something

After a meeting with my can't-say-enough-good-things-about-her supervisor, I have a first stab at my reading list for comprehensive #1, Canadian Literature. This could change and evolve over the next few days, and some texts are my own proposals (Michael Winter and Lisa Moore, I'm cramming you both into the canon whether you like it or not). Overall, I'm pretty stoked with the list. I'm dreading a few (Colonial Period, I'm looking in your direction), but I think it's a diverse list with a lot of fun choices. The contemporary stuff won't feel like work at all, with so many brand new books on it.

Off to Owl's Nest this afternoon to see what I can scrounge up on the used market.

I'm starting to get really, really excited!

Here's the proposed list, in all its glory. Did I mention that Comp 1 (this complete list) is only four months away...?

PROSE

Colonial (1670-1867)

Brooke, Frances. The History of Emily Montague.
Jameson, Anna. Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada.
Moodie, Susanna. Roughing It in the Bush.
Richardson, John. Wacousta.
Traill, Catherine Parr. The Backwoods of Canada.
Beckwith, Julia. St. Ursula’s Convent.

Confederation (1867-1920)

Duncan, Sarah Jeannette. The Imperialist.
Kirby, William. The Golden Dog.
Leacock, Stephen. Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town.
Roberts, Charles G.D. The Last Barrier and Other Stories.
Sime, J.G. Sister Woman.

Modern (1920-1970)

Buckler, Earnet. The Mountain and the Valley.
Callaghan, Morley. Such is My Beloved.
Cohen, Leonard. Beautiful Losers.
Davies, Robertson. Tempest-Tost.
Grove, Frederick Phillip. Settlers of the Marsh.
Klein, A.M. The Second Scroll.
Laurence, Margaret. A Jest of God.
McLennan, Hugh. Two Solitudes.
Richler, Mordechai. St. Urbain’s Horseman.
Ross, Sinclair. As For Me and My House.
Watson, Sheila. The Double Hook.

Contemporary (1970-present)

Atwood, Margaret. Moral Disorder.
Atwood, Margaret and Robert Weaver, eds. The New Canadian Book of Short Stories.
Campbell, Maria. Halfbreed.
Findley, Timothy. Spadework.
Gallant, Mavis. Home Truths.
Johnston, Wayne. The Custodian of Paradise.
King, Thomas. Medicine River.
Kogawa, Joy. Obasan.
Kroetsch, Robert. Gone Indian.
Mistry, Rohinton. Tales from Firozha Baag.
Moore, Lisa. Alligator.
Munro, Alice. The View from Castle Rock.
Ondaatje, Michael. Anil’s Ghost.
Richards, David Adams. Mercy Among the Children.
Shields, Carol. A Fairly Conventional Woman.
Urquhart, Jane. The Underpainter.
Wiebe, Rudy. The Temptation of Big Bear.
Winter, Michael. The Big Why.

POETRY

Gerson, Carol and Gwen Davies, eds. Canadian Poetry: From the Beginnings Through the First World War.
Geddes, Gary, ed. 15 Canadian Poets x3. (Includes: Pratt, Livesay, Gustafson, Klein, Birney, Purdy, Waddington, Scott, Layton, Page, Souster, Webb, Cohen, Jones, Nowlan, Mandel, Avison, MacEwan, Newlove, Bowering, Wah, Atwood, Lane, Nichol, Ondaatje, Lowther, Marlatt, Geddes, Bringhurst, McKay, Kroetsch, Crozier, Borson, Brand, Moure, Thesen, Friesen, Wallace, Lilburn, Carson, Zwicky, and Halfe.)
Wilson, Milton, ed. Poets Between the Wars. (A.J.M. Smith and F.R. Scott)

Colonial (1670-1867)

Goldsmith, Oliver. The Rising Village.
Sangster, Charles. The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay.

Confederation (1867-1920)

Crawford, Isabella Valency. Malcom’s Katie.
Johnson, E. Pauline. Flint and Feather.

Contemporary (1970-present)

Atwood, Margaret. Selected Poems 1966-1984.
Clarke, George Elliot. Execution Poems.
Ondaatje, Michael. The Cinnamon Peeler.

DRAMA

Modern (1920-1970)

Wasserman, Jerry, ed. Modern Canadian Plays, Volumes 1 and 2.

Contemporary (1970- present)

Campbell, Maria and Linda Griffiths. The Book of Jessica.
Clark, Sally. Moo.
Highway, Tomson. Rose.
Hollingsworth, Margaret. The Apple in the Eye.
Lil, Wendy. All Fall Down.
Mojica, Monique. Princess Pocahontas and the Blue Spots.
Pollock, Sharon. Blood Relations.
Thompson, Judith. White Biting Dog.

CRITICISM

Atwood, Margaret. Survival.
Benson, Eugene and William Toye, eds. The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature.
Blodgett, E.D. Five-Part Invention: A History of Literary History in Canada.
Dickinson, Peter. Here is Queer.
Frye, Northrop. The Bush Garden.
Heble, Ajay, et al., eds. New Contexts of Canadian Criticism.
Hutcheon, Linda. The Canadian Postmodern.
Jones, D.G. Butterfly on a Rock.
Kertzer, Jonathan. Worrying the Nation: Imagining a National Literature in English Canada.
Mandel, Eli, ed. Contexts of Canadian Criticism.

1 comment:

Andrea said...

Nice list. Except I hate "The Mountain and the Valley."