ENGL 4321: Modern Canadian Fiction
In this course, students will read novels and short stories that are central to the tradition of writing in Canada since 1967, the nation’s Centennial. Contemporary Canadian fiction reflects the massive social and political changes in the nation since the 1960s, including new immigration and settlement patterns, accelerated urbanization, and the declaration of official bilingualism and multiculturalism as national policies. This period has also been marked by Indigenous political and cultural resurgence, as well as the struggles for women’s equality and the rights of sexual minorities. In its diversity and range, Canadian fiction illustrates and reflects upon these significant transformations.
Learning outcomes
- Assess the impact on the national literature of cultural developments and social changes in Canada since the 1960s.
- Identify the source of excerpts selected from the works and discuss the significance of the authors’ words, including cultural, social, and historical contexts.
- Analyze literary techniques, including use of setting, point of view, plot structure, imagery, allusion, and figurative language, using appropriate literary terms.
- Describe links between Canadian literature and Canadian society and, in particular, key themes that affect Canadian writers: the histories of Indigenous and settler Canadians; the distinctive relationship to the land of different groups, including Indigenous peoples, in diverse urban and rural contexts; cultural mythologies and identities; multiculturalism and racial politics and justice; gendered and sexual identities and politics; and Indigenous and Canadian cultural structures, politics, and identities.
- Discuss the way writers use fiction to criticize or reinforce prevailing values and concerns by, for example, their treatment and depiction of women, settler-Indigenous relationships, diasporic/home cultures, and religions.
- Engage in dialogue with selected pieces of literary criticism by summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, synthesizing, and responding to sources related to the stories and novels.
- Respond to primary and secondary sources in thoughtful, organized, and carefully edited and proofread academic prose that uses the conventions of scholarly writing, including MLA citations.
Course topics
- Unit 1: A National Literature – Creation and Contestation
- Unit 2: Indigenous Oratures and Literatures
- Unit 3: Diasporic and Multicultural Literature in Canada
- Unit 4: Land and Water in a Changing Climate
Required text and materials
Students are responsible for purchasing the required materials on their own:
- Johns, Jessica. (2023) Bad Cree. Knopf Doubleday.
Type: Novel. ISBN: 9781443465489 - Atwood, Margaret. (2009). The Year of the Flood. Vintage Canada.
Type: Novel. ISBN 9780307397980 / 9780307398925
Note: This item can be purchased directly from the following VitalSource link.
- Laurence, Margaret. (1974). The Diviners. McClelland & Stewart.
Type: Novel. ISBN: 9780771034909 / 9781551992433
Note: This item can be purchased directly from the following VitalSource link.
- Chariandy, David. (2017). Brother. McClelland & Stewart.
Type: Novel. ISBN: 9780771022906 / 9780771021060
Note: This item can be purchased directly from the following VitalSource link.
Assessments
Please be aware that should your course have a final exam, you are responsible for the fee to the online proctoring service, ProctorU, or to the in-person approved Testing Centre. Please contact exams@tru.ca with any questions about this.
To successfully complete this course, students must achieve a passing grade of 50% or higher on the overall course, and 50% or higher on the final mandatory exam
| Assignment 1: Reading Journal | 10% |
| Assignment 2: Reconciliation Research, Reflection, and Literary Analysis | 20% |
| Assignment 3: Comparative Literary Analysis | 25% |
| Assignment 4: Multimedia Artefact and Artist’s Response | 25% |
| Mandatory Final Exam | 20% |
| Total | 100% |
Open Learning Faculty Member Information
An Open Learning Faculty Member is available to assist students. Students will receive the necessary contact information at the start of the course.
