The Evolving Fiction of a Developing City
Dr. David Creelman, Associate Professor (English), UNB Saint John
Canadian literature has always been shaped by regional conditions and local economic and cultural tensions. While considerable work has been done by such critics as Janice Kulyk Keefer to examine the shaping power of regional identities, and while scholars like Fred Cogswell and Elizabeth McGahan have explored how New Brunswick’s literary culture reflects its provincial identity, little has been done to account for the influence of specific urban spaces on local literary culture. This research project examines the evolution of Saint John’s literary productions and demonstrates that the transformation in the city’s economy and community has had a direct impact on writers’ production of fictions. The study documents how local writers gradually shifted from a commitment to colonial and imperial modes of expression, through a period in which North American and National models were a shaping influence, until finally, after the 1960s, local writers began to consistently explore local issues and concerns. The history of Saint John’s fiction is, I believe, the history of an ever increasing capacity to examine the conditions of the developing urban space itself.
In the initial phase of the reseach project research assistant Josh Graham compiled two bibliographies of 19th and 20th century texts. Choose the link below to read an overview of the project's bibliography, or to view the bibliograhies.
Overview: Web-Site Bibiliography