I can't be the only one that really dislikes Canadian lit.
I love Montgomery but I'm not sure her books count as literature.
Alice Munro gets a little respect
the dykes here seem to like Atwood
and uhhhh.....
I like that Neil Young song about Johnny Rotten
I think Atwood is overrated but still a decent author. Munro is amazing.
I fingerfucked Alice Munro and she told me she wishes she were a man
>>8175401
read canada made me
>>8176677
>so do I
I've heard it's terribly depressing and bleak, that is the extant of my knowledge.
Is there a Canadian Lit chart?
>>8176698
it is annoyingly often about survival and the weather.
it is also endlessly about diaspora and multiculturalism, but often written in such a specific way the authors seem to miss out on any interesting connections to Exodus, or the human condition of moving and change. Instead it usually just comes across as blogs about moving to a new country.
eh?
Barney's Version was good.
>>8175401
99.9% of Canadians also hate it
I recently bought a book of Canadian verse, I'm going to force myself to read through it.
>tfw you want to be a patriot but you live in Canada
I'm tempted to just go full-on loyalist
Saul Bellow was born north of the US border
that's all I've got
>>8175401
I strongly doubt that Canadian lit is large enough in a volumetric sense and coherent enough in an ethos staging/framing sense that it could be felt strongly about in any way by anyone
in fact I feel as if your whole question is disingenuous and wants to advance some ulterior "meta" discussion -- is that in fact the case OP, are you some sort of... troll?
>>8175401
Canadian Lit ain't bad man.
Lawrence Hill
Thomas King
Ann Carson
Yann Martel
We got great poets like
A.J.M Smith
Archibald Lampman
Irving Green
Leonard Cohen
don't get down on Canadian lit, there's a lot of good stuff but you got to get out there and support it. Pick up the Malahaut Review or the Fiddlehead or the Quill and the Quire.
>>8177468
>I strongly doubt that Canadian lit is large enough in a volumetric sense and coherent enough in an ethos staging/framing sense that it could be felt strongly about in any way by anyone
Canadian lit courses are mandatory at many Canadian universities
>>8175401
I just fucking hate Canadians
They're all smug passive aggressive little cunts
>LE CANADA HAS LE EPIC MAPULS SYRUP AND LE HOCKEY XDD
>ANERICA WHY YOU DO THINGS DIFFERENT XDD
Fuck canadians
>>8177491
my grandfather makes some pretty epic maple syrup
you're missing out bro
As for being smug and passive aggressive, it's mostly true
I wish we were still a British colony t b h
>>8177491
amerifart
>>8175401
THEY CHANGED THE FUCKING SONG THATS WHAT I DISLIKE ABOUT CANADIAN LIT
French Canadian literature gave us this:
>book title is literally "How to make love with a nigger without exhausting yourself"
This guy now is a member of the French Academy.
>>8176562
Munro is good, so is that one critic. Atwood is dogshit tho
>>8177304
Holy shit, this. We're finally getting the chancs to develope our culture, bit instead we get platitudinoud immigrant stories
>>8177723
So? How do you?
>I can't be the only one to generalize an entire countries literature scene
>>8177444
"patriotism" is retarded. this isn't 1913 or /int/
>>8177444
>Patriotism
>Nationalism
>Canada
Sorry, but it's literally impossible. Canada even prides itself on multiculturalism, that is, on having no culture and being anti-nationalistic. Most recent Canadian /lit/ has a strictly immigrant focus, so it's all shit. Try to read stuff before 1965-70 if you're gonna read anything.
>>8177468
>sour canadian detected
you'll always be our shadow old hat
>>8177758
Whoa, you're really enlightened.
>>8177737
it must be the publishers or something who keep picking that shit.
I don't think Canadians realize the idea of immigration is actually kind of boring, yeah people move and act a bit different, so what.
>>8177770
>multiculturalism
>on having no culture
pick one
>>8177789
Multiculturalism in theory is like some brilliant reaction where clear liquids become colourful when mixed together, but in reality it just creates sewage water.
>>8177770
protip: canadian culture is actually more divided by class. i bet if you think about it you could list all the cultrual activities and traits of working class, middle class, and upper class and you'll notice the ethnicity doesn't matter much.
>>8177783
seriously, what is so appealing about having pride for something imaginary?
>>8177758
Some people just want to watch the world burn XD
>>8177800
why would mixing colors create sewage water? that kind of came out of the blue
how can a single culture be single liquid anyway. nothing is in its own little vacuum.
>>8177784
yeah but most of our immigration themed lit doesn't receive international recognition. it's mostly to help communities sort of reconcile their identity in the new country.
.
>>8177806
>I stand for nothing! It's a spook!
>>8177812
It's a metaphor, m9, Jesus.
>>8177821
yeah that's true. i've heard everyone like jian ghomeshi, sook lin lee, david suzuki etc talking about looking at their non-white faces in the mirror and having feels
>>8177841
that doesn't make sense
>>8177748
read on and find out!
on an unrelated note, i was a French major in an American university and had to take a Québecois lit course. A lot of that stuff is, like another anon said, based on frontier life and surviving the winter, but there is some kickass poetry from Gaston Miron, and a strong tradition of experimental prose from people like Gaétan Soucy (neither of which translate well, sorry). But, contrary to what you've all said about the English-speaking Canadians having no sense of national identity in their work, the Quebecois lit almost always carries a strong sense of something approaching patriotism. More precisely, it's a sense of "We are neither English speakers nor European French people, so there."
>>8175401
>>8177892
yup pretty much workingclass canadian culture everywhere, middleclass canadian culture and its literature is completely different tho
>>8177892
>gaelic bangpipes
>gaelic saying
Canadians have to steal scotish culture just to feel relevant
as a canadian, when i look back on my childhood, all of the television shows, movies, kids books, and literature that i hated and thought were boring, all tended to be canadian.
like, nearly 100% of them.
we've got some good musicians, though.
>>8177386
Hell most of Richlers stuff is great. St. Urbains Horseman, Solomon Gursky Was Here, The Incomparable Anuk.
As a Québécois myself I must admit the Francophone literary culture is much better than the English; but they do have their own gems
>>8177916
>niel young
>rush
>"good"
Canada has zero culture, just admit it
>>8177800
This tbqh
>>8177908
It's not stolen so much as transported.
The reason there's no relevant Canadian culture is that many hang on to their heritage for dear life and those who don't are just smug Americans.
>>8177876
>More precisely, it's a sense of "We are neither English speakers nor European French people, so there."
This is very much true for Anglo Canadians as well, except it's "we are neither Americans nor Europeans." Or sometimes its "we are both Americans and Europeans." Basically Canadians are in a position where they can take what they want from the old world and the new world, discarding anything they don't want. Underneath the cultural insecurity that comes from living in the shadow of Britain and America there is definitely a streak of pride.
>>8177932
well rather than arguing that our music is good, i can at least argue that it's popular/culturally relevant
>drake
>the weeknd
>justin bieber
>arcade fire
>grimes
>godspeed you black emperor
>death from Above 1979
>majical cloudz
le list goes on
>>8177940
sure. keep """transporting""" culture as long as it makes you guys feel relevant
>>8177965
only heard of drake and bieber and they are total cancer. it might be popular but its a drain on western society
>>8177969
Neil young and Joni Mitchell were 2 of the most important follk artists m8, of course to be fair they were heavily influenced by the american scene as well as their own.
Don't forget leonard cohen as well, doesn't make canada any better of course, it's not like they were in canada most of the time or singing about canadian subjects.
>>8177965
don't forget
>the band
>buffalo springfield
>leonard cohen
>MSTRKRFT
>Deadmaus
>Broken Social Scene
>Barenaked Ladies
>Simple Plan
>Avril Lavigne
>The Guess Who
>>8176698
Why does everyone think this? Like 90% of Canadians live on the US border so it's basically just one big Minnesota. The rest is uninhabitable
>>8176698
we could try and make one. i'll just dump all the Canadian novels I can think of and you guys can add or remove
>Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
>Autobiography in Red by Anne Carson
>Green Grass Running Water by Thomas King
>The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje
>Life of Pi by Yann Martel
>The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
>Shake Hands with the Devil by Roméo Dallaire
>Any Known Blood by Lawrence HillThis Can't be Happening at Macdonald Hall by Gordon Korman
>>8178195
Spook'd
>>8177969
listen to godspeed now!!!!!!!!!!!
>>8177758
>"patriotism" is retarded.
if you really think that I feel sorry for you
>>8178213
explain why you support it.
>>8178132
>Michael Ondaatje
Hate this guy. Epitome of middlebrow posturing IMO
>>8178132
Montgomery is so good.
Canada's existence is justified by hers.
>>8178224
Because I'm a regular human being with feelings
Stephen Leacock is an excellent humorist... love his plays and short stories.
Canada can't write. Neither can Australia or New Zealand.
Not enough external struggle and not enough internal anguish. Just entire countries of dull middle class.
>>8178352
what is a "regular human with feelings" and why are people who don't support patriotism not under that category?
>>8178225
this is the worst criticism. you constantly see it thrown around but never it's never listed with any evidence.
>>8177985
Many of Joni Mitchell's songs make reference to Canada. She has a whole compilation album called "Songs of a Prairie Girl" dedicated to Saskatoon.
>>8178394
>people who don't support patriotism
it's very clear that you don't understand what patriotism is—you speak of it as a political cause to be "supported". I didn't say normal human people are jingos, or even nationalists; but most men of feeling are patriots, or at least understand patriotic feeling.
patriotism is something in the heart, which can no more be done away with than romance.
>>8177942
Québécois have an identity that's distinct from French though. They're our brothers, but they're not us.
Just talking to a Québécois makes a pretty clear difference.
>>8177876
>Gaston Miron
>Gaétan Soucy
Literally who? The only Québécois poet we rate here is Émile Nelligan (and only hardcore poetry fans know him, not the general public).
>>8175401
That's a Hervieux-Gosselin photo, amirite?
Top choice.
>no mention of Mavis Gallant the entire thread
kys
>>8177966
It doesn't, I think that was clear by the tone of my post
