Page 83 - Vinkler, Jonatan, Ana Beguš and Marcello Potocco. Eds. 2019. Ideology in the 20th Century: Studies of literary and social discourses and practices. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 83
National Identification in Canada 83
ours, where the Canadian authors tend to express through their poems a
desire to participate in the empire (Roberts 1942, 6—51).
An opposite tendency could be observed in the newspaper and book
publishing market, where reprints of non-Canadian authors dominated
along with a strong distribution chain of foreign magazines and publish-
ers (Parker 1976; New 1991, 34—35). In the decade after the Confeder-
ation was established—i.e. after 1880—American publishers prevailed
over the British, the reason being the expansion and rise of the publishing
system in the United States as well as new customs regulations. Canadian
authors were thus forced into releasing their works in the American pub-
lishing market where their works were equated with romantic descrip-
tions of nature (Keith 1990, 9; Doyle 1979). The political and publishing
situation was a major factor in shaping the poetry of the first significant
Canadian group of poets, the so-called Confederation Poets, who en-
tered literary space after the establishment of the Dominion or Confed-
eration in the eighteen-eighties. The emergence of this group is tightly re-
lated to the first wave of nationalism, especially in Roberts’ poetry. His
odes Canada and An Ode to the Canadian Confederation are a mixture of
praising the newly-established state structure and expressions of loyalty
to the mother empire, thus being a typical example of the British-Cana-
dian nationalism; the latter is undeniable, even if—in Canada—Roberts
attempts to include the French-speaking legacy of the Confederation with
mentions of French historical figures (Roberts, Charles G. D. 1886, 2,
109—10). With his descriptions of nature, the group’s other leading poet,
Archibald Lampman (1861—1899), leans on the American literary tradi-
tion more evidently, but also more ambiguously than Roberts.3
American or Canadian? Between Similarity and Difference(s)
in Text and Context, the First Take
Archibald Lampman’s poetry—he published three poetry collections and
the last was printed posthumously4—has been most frequently interpret-
ed as romantic or postromantic, associated with Victorianism, while Ca-
nadian literary criticism identified its poetic inspirations in Keats, Shel-
ley and Tennyson (Ball 2013, chap. Introduction). Even where similarities
3 The term Confederation Poets in the strictest sense includes, beside Roberts and
Lampman, two other poets, Bliss Carman (1861—1929) and Duncan C. Scott
(1862—1947).
4 Collections which were prepared for publication by Lampman himself are the fol-
lowing: Among the Millet (1888), Lyrics of Earth (1895) and Alcyone and Other Po-
ems (1899).
ours, where the Canadian authors tend to express through their poems a
desire to participate in the empire (Roberts 1942, 6—51).
An opposite tendency could be observed in the newspaper and book
publishing market, where reprints of non-Canadian authors dominated
along with a strong distribution chain of foreign magazines and publish-
ers (Parker 1976; New 1991, 34—35). In the decade after the Confeder-
ation was established—i.e. after 1880—American publishers prevailed
over the British, the reason being the expansion and rise of the publishing
system in the United States as well as new customs regulations. Canadian
authors were thus forced into releasing their works in the American pub-
lishing market where their works were equated with romantic descrip-
tions of nature (Keith 1990, 9; Doyle 1979). The political and publishing
situation was a major factor in shaping the poetry of the first significant
Canadian group of poets, the so-called Confederation Poets, who en-
tered literary space after the establishment of the Dominion or Confed-
eration in the eighteen-eighties. The emergence of this group is tightly re-
lated to the first wave of nationalism, especially in Roberts’ poetry. His
odes Canada and An Ode to the Canadian Confederation are a mixture of
praising the newly-established state structure and expressions of loyalty
to the mother empire, thus being a typical example of the British-Cana-
dian nationalism; the latter is undeniable, even if—in Canada—Roberts
attempts to include the French-speaking legacy of the Confederation with
mentions of French historical figures (Roberts, Charles G. D. 1886, 2,
109—10). With his descriptions of nature, the group’s other leading poet,
Archibald Lampman (1861—1899), leans on the American literary tradi-
tion more evidently, but also more ambiguously than Roberts.3
American or Canadian? Between Similarity and Difference(s)
in Text and Context, the First Take
Archibald Lampman’s poetry—he published three poetry collections and
the last was printed posthumously4—has been most frequently interpret-
ed as romantic or postromantic, associated with Victorianism, while Ca-
nadian literary criticism identified its poetic inspirations in Keats, Shel-
ley and Tennyson (Ball 2013, chap. Introduction). Even where similarities
3 The term Confederation Poets in the strictest sense includes, beside Roberts and
Lampman, two other poets, Bliss Carman (1861—1929) and Duncan C. Scott
(1862—1947).
4 Collections which were prepared for publication by Lampman himself are the fol-
lowing: Among the Millet (1888), Lyrics of Earth (1895) and Alcyone and Other Po-
ems (1899).
