The Bush Garden: Essays on the Canadian Imagination
Encyclopedia
The Bush Garden: Essays on the Canadian Imagination is a collection of essays by Canadian literary critic Northrop Frye
(1912–1991). The collection was originally published in 1971; it was republished, with an introduction by Canadian postmodern theorist Linda Hutcheon
, in 1995. The Bush Garden features analyzes of Canadian poetry, prose fiction and painting. According to Frye's introduction, the essays were selected to provide a composite view of the Canadian imagination, an understanding of the human imagination's reaction to and development in response to the Canadian environment.
The Bush Garden includes an edited version of Frye's "Conclusion" to Carl F. Klinck’s Literary History of Canada. In this work, Frye articulated his famous theory of "garrison mentality" as the defining characteristic of Canadian literature. Garrison mentality is the attitude of a community that feels isolated from cultural centres and besieged by a hostile landscape.[8] Frye maintained that such communities were peculiarly Canadian, and fostered a literature that was formally immature, that displayed deep moral discomfort with “uncivilized” nature, and whose narratives reinforced social norms and values
founders and establishing itself within a hostile or potentially hostile landscape, is in fact a recurring theme of the foundation myths told by a wide variety of cultures about themselves.
Northrop Frye
Herman Northrop Frye, was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century....
(1912–1991). The collection was originally published in 1971; it was republished, with an introduction by Canadian postmodern theorist Linda Hutcheon
Linda Hutcheon
Linda Hutcheon, O.C. is a Canadian academic working in the fields of literary theory and criticism, opera, and Canadian Studies. Hutcheon describes her herself as "intellectually promiscuous", as she brings a cross-disciplinary approach to her work She is University Professor in the Department of...
, in 1995. The Bush Garden features analyzes of Canadian poetry, prose fiction and painting. According to Frye's introduction, the essays were selected to provide a composite view of the Canadian imagination, an understanding of the human imagination's reaction to and development in response to the Canadian environment.
The Bush Garden includes an edited version of Frye's "Conclusion" to Carl F. Klinck’s Literary History of Canada. In this work, Frye articulated his famous theory of "garrison mentality" as the defining characteristic of Canadian literature. Garrison mentality is the attitude of a community that feels isolated from cultural centres and besieged by a hostile landscape.[8] Frye maintained that such communities were peculiarly Canadian, and fostered a literature that was formally immature, that displayed deep moral discomfort with “uncivilized” nature, and whose narratives reinforced social norms and values
Criticism
Altbhough Frye asserted that his picture of Canadian self-image was unique to Canada, the picture of a civilization, led by patrilinealPatrilineality
Patrilineality is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well....
founders and establishing itself within a hostile or potentially hostile landscape, is in fact a recurring theme of the foundation myths told by a wide variety of cultures about themselves.
Contents
- Author's Preface
- From "Letters in Canada" (University of Toronto Quarterly)
- Canada and Its Poetry
- The Narrative Tradition in English-Canadian Poetry
- Turning New Leaves
- Preface to an Uncollected Anthology
- Silence in the Sea
- Canadian and Colonial Painting
- David Milne: An Appreciation
- Lawren Harris: An Introduction
- Conclusion to a Literary History of Canada