At 05:36 PM 30/10/2005 +0000, you wrote:
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Tim Wohlforth" <
tim@timwohlforth.com>
> > Noir and the hardboiled are essentially
American products, American
> > exports. The cozy, on the other hand, is
essentially a British product,
> > for us an import. Of course, there is Ian
Rankin and Ken Bruen and
> > Henning Wankell. But they have imported the
form from us just as
> > countless American cozy writers have imported
that form from England.
>
>So which of Ian Rankin, Ken Bruen and Henning Mankell
are English?
Not to mention that Chandler was educated in England, and
gained his wartime experience (a formative experience for
noir/hardboiled writers, I think we've suggested) with the
Canadian Expeditionary Force, if I recall correctly. And
Macdonald, though born in the US, had Canadian parentage and
was raised here, again significant given how much his
biographer says his writing was influenced by childhood
experiences.
Atwood says the dominant theme of Canadian literature is
survival in a harsh environment. The American theme seems to
be one of aspiration, going by that "life, liberty and the
PURSUIT of happiness" thing. The Canadian motto is "peace,
order and good government." Not much for us Canucks to aspire
to I suppose, assuming some day we actually get that
seemingly elusive good government. English Canada was founded
by refugees from the American revolution. Safe to say screwed
is what many of them felt, especially the religious refugees
such as Macdonald's Mennonite ancestors who wanted nothing to
do with the fight to begin with (though I'm not sure when
Macdonald's maternal ancestors actually immigrated, and
whether they arrived from the US or straight from
Switzerland.) In Quebec, French Canadians have long felt
themselves abandoned by France and screwed by the English. So
maybe this noir thing comes from watching the neighbours'
garden party through a knothole in the fence?
Kerry
>
>----------
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