The Icelandic voice in Canadian letters : the contribution of Icelandic-Canadian writers to Canadian literature

This fascinating study explores a remarkable ethnic-Canadian literature in close textual and contextual terms for the first time. It lays a groundwork for future comparative research in the field of ethnic Canadian studies, and challenges assumptions about cultural identity and human experience of the "new." MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Cover 1 Contents 8 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 12 I: Omnia Mea Mecum Porto: Literary History and Background of the Icelanders 18 Introduction 18 Medieval Iceland and the dynamics of immigration 21 Old Icelandic poetry 25 Old Icelandic prose 28 Post-Medieval Icelandic literature 37 The Reformation and its literary influences 38 Religious poetry: Hallgrímur Pétursson 41 Religious prose: Jón Vídalín 42 Secular poetry: rímur 44 Secular prose: folk tales 46 Characteristics of Icelandic folk tales 47 Creatures of the wilderness: huldufólk, trolls and outlaws 53 II: The Search For Vínland the Good: Emigration and Settlement in the New World 66 The nineteenth century: Romanticism and national revival 66 The Romantic movement in Iceland 67 The national situation 74 Emigration and settlement in the New World 78 Emigration 78 The year in Ontario 80 The founding of New Iceland 82 The preservation of Icelandic culture and identity during the first decades 96 III: "Without a poet you and yours / will disappear and leave no trace": Icelandic Immigrant Literature 116 Introduction 116 Western Icelandic poetry 123 Káinn 128 Stephan G. Stephansson 136 Guttormur J. Guttormsson 150 Western Icelandic Prose 161 Jóhann Magnús Bjarnason 163 Guðrún H. Finnsdóttir 175 The move from Icelandic to English: Laura Goodman Salverson 188 Literary pioneer or minor immigrant writer? 189 Salverson and the Western Icelandic tradition 191 Salverson and Canadian literature 201 IV: "Your pen is yet a power in your hands": Icelandic-Canadian Literature in English 230 Canadian and Icelandic-Canadian literature 1940-1970 230 Canadian poetry 231 Canadian fiction 236 Icelandic-Canadian literature 240 Contemporary Icelandic-Canadian writing: Thematic and stylistic concerns 246 The thematic role of ethnic heritage 249 Style 270 Theme and outlook 276 Documentation 297 Myth and myth-making in the New World 302 The role of Norse mythology 302 Mythical figures: The hero, the outcast and the trickster 307 Other mythic themes: Fatalism and sacrifice 323 Myths of time and place 330 Story-telling and myth-making 346 Concluding remarks 367 V: The Icelandic Tile in the Canadian Mosaic: Icelandic-Canadian Literature and Canadian Multiculturalism 374 Multiculturalism in Canada 374 The Icelandic Canadians as an ethnic group in Canada 384 Icelandic-Canadian literature and the Canadian mosaic 392 The Icelandic-Canadian Contribution 404 Selected Bibliography of Western Icelandic Icelandic-Canadian Literature 410 References 414 Index 442 A 442 B 442 C 442 D 443 E 444 F 444 G 445 H 445 I 446 J 447 K 448 L 448 M 448 N 449 O 449 P 450 Q 450 R 450 S 451 T 452 U 452 V 452 W 452 Y 453