I had never thought of that. My God, it is true. Go ahead, name me one great Canadian novelist.
...we have incentivized a safe, cloying storytelling rooted in domestic perspectives and intimate conflicts. These novels generally feature a personal issue (abandonment by a parent, bereavement, breakup) processed through or alongside a traumatic historical incident (say, the clearing of the Newfoundland outports) with some vague connection to the protagonist (typically a university professor, historical researcher, or some other middle-class intellectual with enough time to visit archives). Before the story wraps up, there is certain to be a tepid love affair, several flashbacks, and a well-timed lyrical riff affirming the human spirit or the redemptive power of art. Moral questions will lend the story a patina of gravitas, but there will be no attempt to reckon with the complex roots of social or political problems.
Jeremiads about the failings of Canadian literature are as old as Canadian literature itself...it’s possible to discern certain patterns...Canadian novelists seem to gravitate to three basic plot categories: those staged so long ago that the author can put themselves on the right side of history; domestic dramas exploring psychological, existential, or spiritual themes; and pamphleteering works dealing with social problems.
https://thewalrus.ca/the-search-for-the-great-canadian-novel/
...we have incentivized a safe, cloying storytelling rooted in domestic perspectives and intimate conflicts. These novels generally feature a personal issue (abandonment by a parent, bereavement, breakup) processed through or alongside a traumatic historical incident (say, the clearing of the Newfoundland outports) with some vague connection to the protagonist (typically a university professor, historical researcher, or some other middle-class intellectual with enough time to visit archives). Before the story wraps up, there is certain to be a tepid love affair, several flashbacks, and a well-timed lyrical riff affirming the human spirit or the redemptive power of art. Moral questions will lend the story a patina of gravitas, but there will be no attempt to reckon with the complex roots of social or political problems.
Jeremiads about the failings of Canadian literature are as old as Canadian literature itself...it’s possible to discern certain patterns...Canadian novelists seem to gravitate to three basic plot categories: those staged so long ago that the author can put themselves on the right side of history; domestic dramas exploring psychological, existential, or spiritual themes; and pamphleteering works dealing with social problems.
https://thewalrus.ca/the-search-for-the-great-canadian-novel/
