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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 sentiment, generously supported by government funding, contributed to the recognition of Canadian literature as a potent tool for promoting national confidence 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 element 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 physical 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. +56 »
