Contemporary Canadian Fiction - Wilfrid Laurier University

Wilfrid Laurier University, BrantfordDepartment of EnglishEN267: Contemporary Canadian FictionRoom: OD 205Winter 2013, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-2:20Instructor: Dr. Andrew AtkinsonEmail: aatkinson@wlu.caPhone: ext. 5908Office Location and Hours: RCW306, Tuesdays11:30-12:50Course Description:Over the last thirty years, it would be difficult to find another nation that has, pound for pound,fostered as much literary muscle as Canada (pardon the sports analogy). Michael Ondaatje,Margaret Atwood, Yann Martel, David Adams Richards, Alistair MacLeod, and Alice Munrohave all won prestigious international literary prizes, and many others have gone on to criticaland commercial success - think of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Fall on Your Knees, which wasendorsed by Oprah, Emma Donoghue’s Room, and Douglas Coupland’s era defining GenerationX. Canadian literature before 1980 has been obsessed with survival (Atwood), and dominated bya “Garrison mentality” (Frye) which shields our supposed fragile identity from more powerfulnations, our contemporary literature is, as Jane Urquhart claims, “no longer singular butprismatic” (x). We are no longer stricken by an inferiority complex that invites us to bemoan ourperceived lack of identity, no, instead we are overtaken by a need to explore our multiplicitperspectives, and to imagine locations that have no direct correspondence to our physicalgeography (think of Life of Pi and The Golden Mean). Moreover, we no longer imagine ourwriters to be coming from one of two solitudes: Canadians with a British inheritance, and Frenchspeaking Canadians. As Atwood has cleverly opined of Canadian authors, “Some are bornCanadian, some achieve Canadianness, and some have Canadianness thrust upon them”(Urquhart x). We can see these three categories active in our recent lists of Giller winners andnominees: Will Ferguson is about as “white bread” Canadian as it comes; Esi Edugan, is a firstgeneration Canadian who did most of her writing for Half-Blood Blues in Europe, and PatrickdeWitt’s tenuous, thread-like attachment to Canada seems to be anchored in his birthplace, BC,and Canada Council grants (otherwise the majority of his life he appears to be a West coastAmerican, like the characters of The Sisters Brothers). Canada’s multicultural ethos, whichfosters our catch all identity, is also underwritten by tensions - linguistic, regional, political,sexual, and metaphysical. We will explore this freshly printed, multifaceted Canada throughoutthe course, engaging longstanding debates, and hopefully, launching new ones. Students willgain skills in literary interpretation, knowledge of Canadian regions and their literature, andwriting skills in the discussion post and essay format.Course Texts:Jane Urquhart, ed, The Penguin Book of Canadian Short StoriesMichael Ondaatje, In the Skin of A LionDavid Adams Richards, Mercy Among the Children

Lynn Coady, Mean BoyAnnabel Lyon, The Golden MeanEvaluation:Discussion Group 20% (4 x 5%) Due: 1 - Jan 17; 2 - Feb 5; 3 - Mar 5; 4 - Mar 21. The dropboxwill be closed at Midnight on each of the due dates.Each of your four posts on mylearningspace will be marked out of 4%, with an additional1% awarded for responding to another student’s post. You will need to first post yourassignment in the discussion group, and then secondly, post your assignment in thedropbox. I will be marking the dropbox only, so if it isn’t there, it won’t get marked.Pay attention to the deadlines for these assignments as well. When you respond toanother student’s response, you will then need to post that response to the responsedropbox as well. The response dropbox will be closed a week after the discussion is due.First Essay - 20% (4 pages, 12 pt Times New Roman font, MLA formatting) - Due Feb 14Final Essay - 30% (6 pages, 12 pt Times New Roman font, MLA formatting) - Due Mar 28Final Exam - 30%Jan 8Introduction to Contemporary Canadian Fiction: The Origins and Ethos of Bob andDoug MacKenzie10 From Urquhart’s anthologyIntroduction - p. ix-xvAlistair MacLeod, “Vision”MG Vassanji, “Last Rites”Lynn Coady, “Jesus Christ, Murdeena”15 Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion, 5-103Ondaatje, “Lunch Conversation,” and “Aunts” (Urquhart’s anthology)17 Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion, 103-176, First Discussion Post Due22 Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion, 177-24424 The Burning Rock - Writing by Newfoundlanders in Urquhart’s anthologyMichael Winter, “This All Happened”Lisa Moore, “The Lonely Goatherd”Michael Crummey, “Heartburn”29 From Urquhart’s anthologyThomas King, “The Baby in the Airmail Box”Joseph Boyden, “Abitibi Canyon”

31 David Adams Richards, Mercy Among the Children, 1-75Feb 5Richards, Mercy Among the Children, 75-146, Second Discussion Post Due7 Richards, Mercy Among the Children, 149-22112 Richards, Mercy Among the Children, 221-30014 Richards, Mercy Among the Children, 300-371, First Essay Due19 Reading Week21 Reading Week26 Lynn Coady, Mean Boy, 1-10028 Coady, Mean Boy, 101-200Mar 5Coady, Mean Boy, 201-300, Third Discussion Post Due7 Coady, Mean Boy, 301-40012 From Urquhart’s anthologyAnnabel Lyon, “Joe in the Afterlife”Austin Clarke, “Four Stations in His Circle”Janice Kulyk Keefer, “The Amores”14 Annabel Lyon, The Golden Mean, 1-6719 Lyon, The Golden Mean, 67-14621 Lyon, The Golden Mean, 146-219, Fourth Discussion Post Due26 Lyon, The Golden Mean, 219- 28228 Second Essay DueFrom Urquhart’s anthologyVincent Lam, “A Long Migration”Wayson Choy, “Paper Shadows”April2From Urquhart’s anthologyGuy Vanderhaeghe, “Ray”Sandra Birdsell, “Falling in Love”Timothy Taylor, “Smoke’s Fortune”4 ReviewAssignment Submission Policy:

Students who are unable to meet the assigned deadlines because of medical issues or a death in the familyshould request an extension. A note will be required. Without a request for an extension lateassignments will be docked 5% per day. All assignments must be submitted by April 4th unless anextension has been granted.Attendance Policy:Students are expected to attend all classes.Back Up Policy:Students are expected to keep a copy of all assignments. Should an assignment be lost or damaged thestudent will be contacted for a replacement. We recommend that you back up the files on your personalcomputer with an external hard drive; alternatively, students could print off a paper copy. WLU’s gradingsystem can be found in the Undergraduate Academic Calendar:http://soundeffects.wlu.ca/calendars/section.php?cal=1&s=369&sp=1218&ss=1580&y=44Student Awareness of the Accessible Learning Centre:Students with special needs are advised to contact Laurier's Accessible LearningOffice for information regarding its services and resources. Students are encouraged to review theCalendar for information regarding all services available on campus.For night classes:FOOT Patrol [intended for courses offered at night] "After class, call 519-751-7875 for a walk or drivehome - No Walk is Too Short or Too Long!!!"Academic and Research Misconduct:Wilfrid Laurier University uses software that can check for plagiarism. Students may berequired to submit their written work in electronic form and have it checked for plagiarism. To avoidplagiarism make sure you use MLA citation style. Students are expected to be aware of and abide byUniversity regulations and policies, as outlined in the current on-line Calendar (seehttp://www.wlu.ca/calendars). The University has an established policy with respect to cheating onassignments and examinations, which the student is required to know. Students are cautioned that inaddition to a failure in the course, a student may be suspended or expelled from the University forcheating and the offence may appear on one’s transcript, in which event the offence can have seriousconsequences for one’s business or professional career. For more information refer to the currentundergraduate calendar (University Undergraduate Regulations). Students are to adhere to the Principlesin the Use of Information Technology. These Principles and resulting actions for breaches are stated inthe current Undergraduate Calendar.Examination and/or Deferrals:Students must reserve the examination period of April 11-30. If you are considering registering for aspecial examination or event, you should select a time outside the examination period. Consult with theUndergraduate Calendar for special circumstances for examination deferment.Please note:Students’ names may be divulged in the classroom, both orally and in written form, to other members ofthe class. Students who are concerned about such disclosures should contact the course instructor toidentify whether there are any possible alternatives to such disclosures. The up-to-date and officialversion of the Calendar can be found at www.wlu.ca/calendars.The authoritative syllabus for EN267 BR will be found on My Learning Space.