Selves and Subjectivities: Reflections on Canadian Arts and Culture

Long a topic of intricate political and social debate,
Canadian identity has come to be understood as
fragmented, amorphous, and unstable, a multifaceted
and contested space only tenuously linked to traditional
concepts of the nation. As Canadians, we are endlessly
defining ourselves, seeking to locate our sense of self in
relation to some Other. By examining how writers and
performers have conceptualized and negotiated issues
of personal identity in their work, the essays collected in
Selves and Subjectivities investigate emerging representations of self and other in contemporary Canadian arts and culture. Included are essays on iconic poet and musician Leonard Cohen, Governor General award–winning playwright Colleen Wagner, feminist poet and novelist Daphne Marlatt, film director David Cronenberg, poet and writer Hédi Bouraoui, author and media scholar Marusya Bociurkiw, puppeteer Ronnie Burkett, and the Aboriginal rap group War Party.

As critic Diana Brydon has argued, contemporary Canadian writers are “not transcending nation but resituating it.” Drawing together themes of gender and sexuality,
trauma and displacement, performativity, and linguistic diversity, Selves and Subjectivities offers an exciting new
contribution to the multivocal dialogue surrounding the
Canadian sense of identity.