Description

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Canadians have always been obsessed with the idea of their own identities. Stories that tell us who we are provide a reassuring sense of identity for the individual and the nation. Hockey. Maple Leaves. Beavers. But collective stories tend to be haunted by a fear that a shared narrative might be nothing more than an elaborate artifice. This fear has long been a source of gothic inspiration for Canadian writers. A haunted Canadian self returns again and again. Polite. Friendly. Not American. With examples of gothic discourse from Canadian fiction, autobiography, film, poetry, and drama, Justin Edwards analyzes the ghost at the heart of the nation. A major contribution to cultural and literary studies, Gothic Canada unearths two centuries of Canadian gothic writings to reveal uncanny traditions of trauma, repression, and monstrosity.

About the Author

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Justin D. Edwards is associate professor of English at the University of Copenhagen, where he teaches, among other things, gothic Canadian literature. Originally from Toronto, Justin has, while living abroad, reflected at length on the spectrality of Canadian identity. His other books include Exotic Journey: Exploring the Erotics of U.S. Travel Literature and Gothic Passages: Racial Ambiguity and the American Gothic. He has also coedited a collection of essays (with Douglas Ivison) called Downtown Canada: Writing Canadian Cities.