From Nursery Rhymes To Nationhood: Children's Literature And The Construction Of Canadian Identity (children's Literature And Culture)
by Elizabeth Galway /
2008 / English / PDF
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As Canada came to terms with its role as an independent nation
following Confederation in 1867, there was a call for a literary
voice to express the needs and desires of a new country.
Children’s literature was one of the means through which this new
voice found expression. Seen as a tool for both entertaining and
educating children, this material is often overtly propagandistic
and nationalistic, and addresses some of the key political,
economic, and social concerns of Canada as it struggled to
maintain national unity during this time. From Nursery Rhymes to
Nationhood studies a large variety of children’s literature
written in English between 1867 and 1911, revealing a distinct
interest in questions of national unity and identity among
children’s writers of the day and exploring the influence of
American and British authors on the shaping of Canadian identity.
The visions of Canada expressed in this material are often in
competition with one another, but together they illuminate the
country’s attempts to define itself and its relation to the world
outside its borders.
As Canada came to terms with its role as an independent nation
following Confederation in 1867, there was a call for a literary
voice to express the needs and desires of a new country.
Children’s literature was one of the means through which this new
voice found expression. Seen as a tool for both entertaining and
educating children, this material is often overtly propagandistic
and nationalistic, and addresses some of the key political,
economic, and social concerns of Canada as it struggled to
maintain national unity during this time. From Nursery Rhymes to
Nationhood studies a large variety of children’s literature
written in English between 1867 and 1911, revealing a distinct
interest in questions of national unity and identity among
children’s writers of the day and exploring the influence of
American and British authors on the shaping of Canadian identity.
The visions of Canada expressed in this material are often in
competition with one another, but together they illuminate the
country’s attempts to define itself and its relation to the world
outside its borders.