Toward Defining the Prairies : Region, Culture, and History

New ways of thinking about literature and history have radically changed how we think about or even "define" a region like the Prairie West. In fact, the very concept of "defining" has come into question by new theoretical approaches and it may now seem a hopeless endeavour. But the process of defining can be just as important as the actual production of a definition.__Toward Defining the Prairies__ highlights recent approaches to thinking about the Prairie West. Bounded by pieces from well-known historian Gerald Friesen and Governor-General's Award-winning writer Robert Kroetsch, these 13 essays are as diverse as the region itself. In their examination of different aspects of Prairie history, literature, climate, society, culture, and identity, they help to provide a new understanding of this place and of the complexities of its definition. 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 6 Introduction: Tandem and Tangent 12 Defining the Prairies: or, why the prairies don't exist 22 Alberta Social Credit and the Second National Policy 38 From the Inside Out: The World of Mennonite Diaries 60 Making Modern Citizens: The Construction of Masculine Middle–Class Identity on the Canadian Prairies, 1890–1920 88 Who's from the Prairie? Some Prairie Self–Representations in Popular Culture 100 An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Role of Climate in the History of the Prairies 110 Indelible Grasslands: Place, Memory, and the "Life Review" 128 Novels that Named a City: Fictional Pretexts of Flin Flon 146 The Prairies as Cosmopolitan Space: Recent 'Prairie' Poetry 160 Western Frontiers and Evolving Gender Identity in Aritha van Herk's The Tent Peg 174 The Female Body as Garrison in Three Prairie Biotexts 188 Life Sentence, passwords, and local pride: prairie in the poetic journals of Eli Mandel and Dennis Cooley 204 Don't Give Me No More of Your Lip; or, the Prairie Horizon as Allowed Mouth 218 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 226 CONTRIBUTORS 240 Introduction : Tandem And Tangent / Robert Wardhaugh -- Defining The Prairies : Or, Why The Prairies Don't Exist / Gerald Friesen -- Alberta Social Credit And The Second National Policy / Alvin Finkel -- From The Inside Out : The World Of Mennonite Diaries / Royden Loewen -- Making Modern Citizens : The Construction Of Masculine Middle-class Identity On The Canadian Prairies, 1890-1920 / R. Rory Henry -- Who's From The Prairie? Some Prairie Self-representations In Popular Culture / Alison Calder -- An Interdisciplinary Approach To The Role Of Climate In The History Of The Prairies / Gerald T. Davidson -- Indelible Grasslands : Place, Memory, And The Life Review / Molly P. Rozum -- Novels That Named A City : Fictional Pretexts Of Flin Flon / Birk Sproxton -- The Prairies As Cosmopolitan Space : Recent Prairie Poetry / Jason Wiens -- Western Frontiers And Evolving Gender Identity In Aritha Van Herk's The Tent Peg / J'nan Morse Sellery -- The Female Body As Garrison In Three Prairie Biotexts / Claire Omhovere -- Life Sentence, Passwords, And Local Pride : Prairie In The Poetic Journals Of Eli Mandel And Dennis Cooley / Karen Clavelle -- Don't Give Me No More Of Your Lip : Or, The Prairie Horizon As Allowed Mouth / Robert Kroetsch. Edited By Robert Wardhaugh. Includes Bibliographical References: P. [217]-229. New ways of thinking about literature and history have radically changed how we think about or even "define" a region like the Prairie West. In fact, the very concept of "defining" has come into question by new theoretical approaches and it may now seem a hopeless endeavour. But the process of defining can be just as important as the actual production of a definition. Toward Defining the Prairies highlights recent approaches to thinking about the Prairie West. Bounded by pieces from well-known historian Gerald Friesen and Governor-General's Award-winning writer Robert Kroetsch, these 13 essays are as diverse as the region itself. In their examination of different aspects of Prairie history, literature, climate, society, culture, and identity, they help to provide a new understanding of this place and of the complexities of its definition.