CANADIAN LITERATURE 



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CANADIAN LITERATURE 



STORY OF CANADIAN LITERATURE 



ANADIAN LITERATURE. The lit- 

 erature of Canada springs from two great roots 

 which can never form a single tree. Each root, 

 however, has already brought forth a sturdy 

 sapling which is making room for itself among 

 the literatures of the world. So long as French 

 is spoken in Canada, the French-Canadians 

 will have a literature which not only records 

 their own achievements and voices their own 

 aspirations, but also shows the influence of 

 France. The highest honor which can be 

 awarded to the work of a French-Canadian 

 author is the laurel crown of the French Acad- 

 emy. 



The Canadian who writes in English is less 

 dependent on the traditions of the mother 

 country. It is true, he has the splendid her- 

 itage of all English literature, but he also has 

 a separate history which encourages independ- 

 ence. British rule has turned the literary eye 

 of French Canada back to France itself, but 

 it has given English Canada a new national 

 consciousness which is reflected in its literature. 



French Canada. The literature of French 

 Canada divides itself naturally into two periods, 

 the year 1763 being the dividing line. The 

 books written before that year were the work 

 of explorers and missionaries, and naturally 

 deal with discovery and travel. The men 

 who first attempted to plant European civiliza- 

 tion on American soil wrote vivid accounts of 

 their struggles. The chronicles of Cartier's 

 voyages, the narratives of Champlain and Hen- 

 nepin, the histories of Lescarbot, Sagard, Le 

 Clerq and Charlevoix form a body of literature 

 of the highest rank. The volumes of the 

 Jesuit Relations, which contain the reports of 

 the missionaries, must not be omitted from this 

 group. 



Totally different in character, but equally 

 important, were the Breton and Norman folk- 

 songs, which, in the course of time, acquired 

 some of the spirit of their new homes. They 

 were once transmitted orally from generation 

 to generation, and it is only in recent times 

 that some of them have been put into print. 



To this day they recall the France of two or 

 three centuries ago, when the Quebec habitant 

 and the French peasant led lives of much the 

 same character. 



Patriotism and Histories. The beginning of 

 British rule over French Canada in 1763 

 caused a struggle between two civilizations 

 which has not yet entirely disappeared, and 

 created a new type of French-Canadian litera- 

 ture which is distinguished chiefly by race- 

 patriotism. Its first important products were 

 the speeches of Louis J. Papineau. These 

 speeches, purely political in purpose, rank first, 

 in comparison with written works, both in 

 popular esteem and in point of time. Soon 

 after appeared the histories of Canada by 

 Michel Bibaud and Frangois X. Garneau, the 

 latter still regarded by the French as their 

 standard authority. Garneau's work has con- 

 siderable distinction of style and has had a 

 great influence, but it is marred by an excessive 

 patriotism which prevents it from being author- 

 itative. It remains valuable, however, as "the 

 first great literary stimulus to racial self-re- 

 spect." 



Of later historians there is a long list, begin- 

 ning with Benjamin Suite, Abbe Casgrain and 

 Sir James Le Moine, each of whom is treated 

 in alphabetical order in these volumes. Others 

 whose names are familiar for histories and 

 monographs on historical or economic subjects 

 are Thomas Chapais, Etienne Parent, Laurent 

 David and Alfred D. DeCelles. Among jour- 

 nalists and publicists must be mentioned Henri 

 Bourassa, also famous as an orator, Joseph 

 Charles Tache, Hector Fabre and Abbe" J. A. 

 Damours. 



Fiction and Poetry. In fiction and poetry the 

 same patriotic strain is everywhere apparent. 

 The novelist and the poet are inspired by the 

 events of French-Canadian history, and when 

 the keynote is not love of Canada it is love 

 of the great mother Church, or of France, the 

 mother country. In fiction the first work of 

 importance is Philippe de Gaspe's Les Anciens 

 Canadiens (1863), a rambling tale with a fa- 



