Nationalism and literature
Subtitle: the politics of culture in Canada and the United States
By: Sarah M. Corse.
Series: Cambridge cultural social studies
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Cambridge ; New York
Number of pages: 213
Subjects: American literature -- History and criticism -- Theory, etc; Canadian literature -- History and criticism -- Theory, etc; National characteristics, American, in literature.; National characteristics, Canadian, in literature.; Nationalism -- Canada -- History.; Nationalism -- United States -- History.; Politics and literature -- Canada -- History.; Politics and literature -- United States -- History.
Description: Sarah Corse's analysis of nearly two hundred American and Canadian novels offers a new theory of national literatures. Demonstrating that national canon formation occurs in tandem with nation-building, and that canonical novels play a symbolic role in this, Sarah Corse accounts for cross-national literary differences, addresses issues of mediation and representation in theories of "reflection," and illuminates the historically constructed nature of the relationship between literature and the nation-state.

In this way, she also shows that there is no "natural" pattern of national literary difference across literary types, and, specifically, that high-culture national literatures are selected to appear different from other novels. By contrast, popular-culture bestsellers are best understood as mass market commodities for the largest and least differentiated audience.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 184-203) and index.

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