ENGL 3301

Stories were foundational to building, complicating, and resisting Canada before 1900. These stories were diverse, including the oral stories and histories that have been passed down in Indigenous nations and communities since time immemorial, the personal accounts of immigration and hardship that characterized settlement, and the sweeping cultural narratives of expansion that fuelled colonization. Through a close engagement with key literary texts — which could include poetry, prose, speeches, and oral stories — we will examine competing identities, values, and goals associated with the establishment of Canada and consider how stories can help to build nations.