Who's on First? Frances Brooke's The History of Emily Montague, with Dr. Kate Ready

09/02/22 • 35 min

Getting Lit with Linda - The Canadian Literature Podcast

Ever wonder what was the "first" book of Canadian literature? How do we even know how to define what that would be? In this episode, Linda chats with eighteenth-century British literature scholar, Dr. Kathryn Ready, about what is sometimes claimed as the first book of Canadian literature--Frances Brooke's The History of Emily Montague. Linda and Dr. Ready may -- or may not -- have tussled over whether this book is British or Canadian, but what they absolutely do is consider the finer aspects of the novel and its global investments.

Linda opens with a consideration of "firsts" (referencing Abbott and Costello's comedy routine, "Who's on First?," 1.05) and then turns to Dr. Ready who speaks about the following:

epistolary narratives, tradition of letter-writing (4.25; 5.15)
Samuel Richardson's Pamela (4.35, 6.30)
Frances Brooke (8.25)
travel writing (11.25)
aesthetic of the sublime and beautiful (11.40)
the Seven Years War (12.05)

And so much more ....

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Linda opens with a consideration of "firsts" (referencing Abbott and Costello's comedy routine, "Who's on First?," 1.05) and then turns to Dr. Ready who speaks about the following:

epistolary narratives, tradition of letter-writing (4.25; 5.15)
Samuel Richardson's Pamela (4.35, 6.30)
Frances Brooke (8.25)
travel writing (11.25)
aesthetic of the sublime and beautiful (11.40)
the Seven Years War (12.05)

And so much more ....

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Bad Boundaries & Good Relationships: Thomas King & Natasha Donovan

In this episode, Linda reflects on why we say boundaries are "bad" and how "good relationships" stand in contrast. Using Thomas King (author of The Inconvenient Indian, Medicine River, Green Grass, Running Water) and Natasha Donovan's graphic novel, Borders (published by Little Brown, 6.55), Linda explores "bad boundaries" -- and bad borders -- in relation to the Blackfoot nation. She also refers to Daniel Rück’s The Laws and the Land (4.00) and Benjamin Hoy’s A Line of Blood and Dirt (5.55) to explain her thinking around boundaries and borders. Some of her musings encompass the following:

What are bad boundaries? (2.43; 5.05; 10.40)
The Canadian-American Border; Blackfoot territory (8.30; 9.00; 12.19; 14.18; 15.00)
Mapping and cartography as expressions of power (8.40)
National imagined identities (9.00)
Blackfoot culture (9.58)
Relationships (between the mother-daughter, mother-narrator in the story, 11.00; 15.25; 16.35)
Stories and their importance (15.40)

The Takeaway is about Joshua Whitehead's Full Metal Indigiqueer published by Talon Press (17.00), with reference to Making Love to the Land by Penguin Random House. She makes reference to the difference between Transgender and Two Spirit, the former referreing to someone whose gender identity differs from the sex assigned at birth, the latter to an Indigenous person who identifies as possessing both a masculine and a feminine spirit.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Ali Hassan Brings Home the Bacon -- and the Joy

Is there Bacon in Heaven? Maybe – but there’s certainly bacon on earth, Ali Hassan reminds us, and he enjoys it—and he doesn’t mean it simply literally either. In his new book--a memoir titled Is There Bacon in Heaven? (Simon & Schuster) -- he looks at what is good here on earth and how to locate those moments of goodness—in addition to those of humour and comedy and joy. In this interview, Linda and he talk about the fundamentals of his memoir, the boundaries of comedy, and the power of humour—to restore relationships and connect us meaningfully to others.

Some of the topics we broach?: