Inheriting a Canoe Paddle: The Canoe in Discourses of English-Canadian Nationalism

by Misao Dean

Overview

If the canoe is a symbol of Canada, what kind of Canada does it symbolize? Inheriting a Canoe Paddle looks at how the canoe has come to symbolize love of Canada for non-aboriginal Canadians and provides a critique of this identification’s unintended consequences for First Nations. Written with an engaging, personal style, it is both a scholarly examination and a personal reflection, delving into representations of canoes and canoeing in museum displays, historical re-enactments, travel narratives, the history of wilderness expeditions, artwork, film, and popular literature.

Misao Dean opens the book with the story of inheriting her father’s canoe paddle and goes on to explore the canoe paddle as a national symbol – integral to historical tales of exploration and trade, central to Pierre Trudeau’s patriotism, and unique to Canadians wanting to distance themselves from British and American national myths. Throughout, Inheriting a Canoe Paddle emphasizes the importance of self-consciously evaluating the meaning we give to canoes as objects and to canoeing as an activity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442661769
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	02/25/2013
Series:	Cultural Spaces
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Misao Dean is a professor in the Department of English at the University of Victoria.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Inheriting a Canoe Paddle

Chapter One: Paddling the Uncanny Canoe

Chapter Two: Canada is a Canoe Route

Chapter Three: The Anglo-Saxon Idea of Pleasure

Chapter Four: The Centennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant

Chapter Five: Reading/Writing the Wilderness Canoe Trip

Chapter Six: Return to Eden

Chapter Seven: Recapitulation: The Canadian Canoe Museum

Chapter Eight: De-colonising the Canoe

Notes

Works Cited

What People are Saying About This

Robert Henderson

‘Inheriting a Canoe Paddle is a wonderful book that I will be recommending to many – the extensive recreational paddling community should be excited by its content and personally challenging theme. I enjoyed Misao Dean’s fresh, thoughtful treatment of new topics relating to Canadian identity and canoe literature analysis in this major contribution to research.’
— Robert Henderson, McMaster University

From the Publisher

‘Inheriting a Canoe Paddle is a wonderful book that I will be recommending to many – the extensive recreational paddling community should be excited by its content and personally challenging theme. I enjoyed Misao Dean’s fresh, thoughtful treatment of new topics relating to Canadian identity and canoe literature analysis in this major contribution to research.’

Editorial Reviews

‘Inheriting a Canoe Paddle is a wonderful book that I will be recommending to many – the extensive recreational paddling community should be excited by its content and personally challenging theme. I enjoyed Misao Dean’s fresh, thoughtful treatment of new topics relating to Canadian identity and canoe literature analysis in this major contribution to research.’—Robert Henderson, McMaster University

From the Publisher