Jean Rivard - University of British Columbia

Books in Review
ther critical exploration. Interestingly, the
concept of historiographie metafiction is
discussed not only in the context of the historical
novel but also with regard to other
genres such as science fiction, autobiographical
writings, nonfiction novels, and
the comic strip.
The opening three articles skilfully lay
out the framework for the rest of the volume.
Engler explores the contemporary
philosophies of historical representation
and its intellectual contexts; Müller outlines
the history of historiographie metafiction
in the American context; and
Wolfgang Klooß sketches the colonial and
post-colonial structures of historical experience
as reflected in English-Canadian historiographie
metafiction, arguing that the
"(imperial) master narrative of an allencompassing
Canadian identity is
replaced by a post-colonial notion of an
identity beyond nation."
Eight essays in Historiographie
Metafiction deal with Canadian literature.
The contributors either present surveys of
one author, such as Rudy Wiebe (Jutta
Zimmermann), Robert Kroetsch (Martin
Kuester), and Jack Hodgins (Waldemar
Zacharasiewicz), or they discuss one or two
individual texts, for example Mavis Gallant's
The Pegnitz Junction (Danielle Schaub),
Michael Ondaatje's Coming Through
Slaughter and The Collected Works of Billy
the Kid (Wolfgang Hochbruck), and
Timothy Findley's Famous Last Words (Paul
Goetsch). While these selections cover
familiar ground, readers may enjoy the
conscientious and well-organized discussions.
The studies of one relatively early and
one very recent example of historiographie
metafiction deserve special attention. In his
thoughtful reading of Leonard Cohen's
Beautiful Losers, Winfried Siemerling
explores how the "transgeneric collage" of
the novel responds to narratives of the historical
figure Catherine Tekakwitha.
Beautiful Losers both attacks and relies on
history, while also reflecting extensively on
"language and the limits of its possibilities."
Similarly engaging is Barbara Korte's discussion
of what she considers Mordecai
Richler's first historiographie metafiction,
Solomon Gursky Was Here. According to
Korte, Richler parodically rewrites
Canadian history from a Jewish perspective,
especially by inscribing Jews into one
of the most prominent and mysterious historical
events in Canada, the Franklin expedition.
As Korte investigates Richler's
"ingenious montage of the documentary
and the imaginary," she shows not only
how the novel presents all accounts of history
as subject to invention and manipulation
but also how it participates specifically
in the subversion of "the great Canadian
myth of the North."
Historiographie Metafiction also includes
essays on a wide range of American writers
from John Barth, Ishmael Reed, Kurt
Vonnegut, and Ursula LeGuin to Art
Spiegelman and many others. Two contributions
should be noted for their sophisticated
theoretical and philosophical
reflections on historiographie metafiction.
In "History and Metafiction:
Experientiality, Causality, and Myth,"
Monika Fludernik astutely argues for a limited
application of the term historiographie
metafiction in order to retain its usefulness.
And Ansgar Niinning proves through his
discussion of Susan Daitch's L.C. that "constructivist
models of cognition and historiography
can provide a consistent
theoretical framework for an analysis of the
epistemological implications of... 'historiographie
metafiction'."
Historiographie Metafiction does not
include any comparative analyses of
American and Canadian texts. It is for the
reader to engage with Engler's and Müller's
suggestions in the preface that American
historiographie metafiction seems to be
"more pronouncedly skeptical about the
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