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CANADIAN LANDSCAPES/ PAYSAGES CANADIENS
inferiority. Ihis dichotomy was intensified by the geographical isolation of
Canadian culture and, simultaneously, being endangered by its proximity to
the culturally dominant United States. Ihe wave of Canadian national senti¬
ment, generously supported by government funding, contributed to the rec¬
ognition of Canadian literature as a potent tool for promoting national confi¬
dence both within the country and on the global stage. However, critics like
Kit Dobson (2009) argue that this movement disproportionately favoured white
middle-class Anglophone Canadians, sidelining Canada’s colonial history,
particularly its treatment of First Nations. Furthermore, the focus on the
English/French duality and the struggle to differentiate Canada from the United
States overshadowed the cultural contributions of Indigenous Canadians and
immigrants.
During this period, critics such as Northrop Frye’ brought regionalist
viewpoints to Anglophone Canadian literature and criticism, which became
“preoccupied with nature and its archetypal significance in a way that ignored
the fact that Canada was an urban nation” (Birns 235). English Canadian
writers of that time dealt with the vast landscape and wilderness on a massive
scale, frequently using it as a metaphor for a protagonist’s struggles. However,
the ascendancy of gender, class, and ethnicity as key analytical categories
prompted a significant re-evaluation of the concept of place as a defining ele¬
ment of one’s identity, diminishing its former prominence (Wardhaugh 5). This
transformative shift allowed Indigenous stories to intertwine with prevailing
Pioneer myths, giving marginalized groups such as Indigenous peoples and
immigrants a newfound voice in Canadian literature.
Although Laurence’s Manawaka stories remain inherently tied to the region,
the perception of place has evolved beyond the physical landscape, shifting
towards the inner landscapes of Prairie inhabitants. Laurence’s protagonists
struggle to find the most appropriate language to articulate the sense of their
self, often discovering it through the surrounding landscape. Navigating phys¬
ical realities, they immerse themselves in unconscious mental landscapes to
explore the intricacies of their inner selves against the backdrop of family
histories and ancestral mythologies. Within this inner landscape, clashes
between their autonomous personalities, societal expectations, and seemingly
inescapable realities often culminate in rebellions against prevailing norms
and conventions, reframing the protagonists’ perceptions and beliefs.
? In the preface to The Bush Garden (1971), Frye suggests that Canadian identity is intricately
tied to the specific region a person originates from, making it particularly difficult to define.
According to Frye, national identity is “local and regional, rooted in the imagination and in
works of culture,” while national unity stems from political awareness of Canadian citizenship
(ii). However, with emerging themes like urban populations and urbanscapes in Canadian
literature, Frye’s focus on locality and connection to the wilderness has been challenged and
re-articulated in recent decades.
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