Barbara Godard
Encyclopedia
Barbara Godard was a Canadian
critic, translator, editor, and academic. She held the Avie Bennett
Historica Chair of Canadian Literature
and was Professor of English
, French
, Social and Political Thought and Women's Studies
at York University
. She published widely on Canadian
and Quebec
cultures and on feminist and literary theory
. Barbara Godard died peacefully in Toronto on May 16, 2010. Across Canada and throughout the world, poets, scholars, feminists, and friends mourned her death.
, she has introduced Quebec women writers Louky Bersianik, Yolande Villemaire and Antonine Maillet
to an English audience. Her translations include Nicole Brossard
's Picture Theory (1991) and France Theoret's The Tangible Word (1991). In 2004 her translation of Brossard's Intimate Journal was published as well as a revised edition of Maillet's The Tale of Don l'Orignal, also available as an audiobook as broadcast on CBC
's Between the Covers. She is author of Talking About Ourselves: the Cultural Productions of Canadian Native Women (1985) and Audrey Thomas: Her Life and Work (1989) and has edited Gynocritics/Gynocritiques: Feminist Approaches to the Writing of Canadian and Quebec Women (1987), Collaboration in the Feminine: Writings on Women and Culture from Tessera (1994), and Intersexions: Issues of Race and Gender in Canadian Women's Writing (1996).
of Open Letter and The Semiotic Review of Books and book review
editor of Topia: A Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies. In 1998 she held the Gerstein Award for an advanced research
seminar
on Translation Studies in Canada: Institutions, Discourses, Texts. In 2001, with Di Brandt
she organized the conference "'Wider Boundaries of Daring': The Modernist Impulse in Canadian Women's Poetry" whose proceedings
are currently being edited for publication
. A first volume, ReGenerations: Canadian Women Poets in Conversation, appeared in 2006.
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
critic, translator, editor, and academic. She held the Avie Bennett
Avie Bennett
Avie Bennett, is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist.-Work History:In 1986, he acquired the Canadian publishing company, McClelland & Stewart Inc. In 2000, he donated his shares, 75% of the company, to the University of Toronto...
Historica Chair of Canadian Literature
Canadian literature
Canadian literature is literature originating from Canada. Collectively it is often called CanLit. Some criticism of Canadian literature has focused on nationalistic and regional themes, although this is only a small portion of Canadian Literary criticism...
and was Professor of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Social and Political Thought and Women's Studies
Women's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
at York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
. She published widely on Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
cultures and on feminist and literary theory
Literary theory
Literary theory in a strict sense is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for analyzing literature. However, literary scholarship since the 19th century often includes—in addition to, or even instead of literary theory in the strict sense—considerations of...
. Barbara Godard died peacefully in Toronto on May 16, 2010. Across Canada and throughout the world, poets, scholars, feminists, and friends mourned her death.
Translator
As translatorTranslation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
, she has introduced Quebec women writers Louky Bersianik, Yolande Villemaire and Antonine Maillet
Antonine Maillet
Antonine Maillet, is an Acadian novelist, playwright, and scholar. She was born in Bouctouche, New Brunswick and lives in Montreal, Quebec....
to an English audience. Her translations include Nicole Brossard
Nicole Brossard
Nicole Brossard, O.C. is a leading French Canadian formalist poet and novelist.She lives in Outremont, a former city in Montreal, Quebec. She wrote her first collection in 1965, Aube à la maison. The collection L'Echo bouge beau marks a break in the evolution of her poetry...
's Picture Theory (1991) and France Theoret's The Tangible Word (1991). In 2004 her translation of Brossard's Intimate Journal was published as well as a revised edition of Maillet's The Tale of Don l'Orignal, also available as an audiobook as broadcast on CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's Between the Covers. She is author of Talking About Ourselves: the Cultural Productions of Canadian Native Women (1985) and Audrey Thomas: Her Life and Work (1989) and has edited Gynocritics/Gynocritiques: Feminist Approaches to the Writing of Canadian and Quebec Women (1987), Collaboration in the Feminine: Writings on Women and Culture from Tessera (1994), and Intersexions: Issues of Race and Gender in Canadian Women's Writing (1996).
Editor
A founding co-editor of the feminist literary theory periodical, Tessera, Barbara Godard was contributing editorContributing editor
A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. The contributing editor regularly contributes articles to the publication but does not actually edit articles, and the title...
of Open Letter and The Semiotic Review of Books and book review
Book review
A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review could be a primary source opinion piece, summary review or scholarly review. It is often carried out in periodicals, as school work, or on the internet. Reviews are also often...
editor of Topia: A Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies. In 1998 she held the Gerstein Award for an advanced research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...
on Translation Studies in Canada: Institutions, Discourses, Texts. In 2001, with Di Brandt
Di Brandt
Di Brandt is an award-winning Canadian poet and literary critic. Despite the similarity of their names, she should not be confused with poet Dionne Brand.-Biography:...
she organized the conference "'Wider Boundaries of Daring': The Modernist Impulse in Canadian Women's Poetry" whose proceedings
Proceedings
In academia, proceedings are the collection of academic papers that are published in the context of an academic conference. They are usually distributed as printed books either before the conference opens or after the conference has closed. Proceedings contain the contributions made by researchers...
are currently being edited for publication
Publication
To publish is to make content available to the public. While specific use of the term may vary among countries, it is usually applied to text, images, or other audio-visual content on any medium, including paper or electronic publishing forms such as websites, e-books, Compact Discs and MP3s...
. A first volume, ReGenerations: Canadian Women Poets in Conversation, appeared in 2006.
Prizes
She is the recipient of the Gabrielle Roy Prize of the Association for Canadian and Quebec Literatures (1988), the Award of Merit of the Association of Canadian Studies (1995), the Vinay-Darbelnet Prize of the Canadian Association of Translation Studies (2000) and the Teaching Award of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, York University (2002) and of the Northeast Association of Graduate Schools (2002). In 2010, she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of CanadaRoyal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
.
External links
- Barbara Godard at The Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...