Thoughts on culture, education, and having been a Canadian in the US

From imdb.com, sent to me by my sister.

Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders (1953): A villain named Marlof attempts to set up secret missile bases inside Canada so he can launch missiles at the U.S. The Canadian Mounted Police dispatch agents to try to stop him.

I’m not sure what I like best, the description of the series or the recommendation of Panther Girl of the Kongo as something fans of this show might also enjoy.

Yesterday, thanks to the dogged persistence of my English 086 students I discovered that at least one and perhaps all of my blogs are not displaying properly in Internet Explorer for Windows. The postings are displaying properly, but when it comes time to read comments users only see a blank comment box.

Fortunately, there is a quick solution: the blog displays properly in Firefox, a great browser that you can download for free at the UVM software page (http://www.uvm.edu/software) We’re looking into what might be causing this error on IE, but for the meantime, please download Firefox and start using it to access the blog.

You may well find you like it a lot better than IE anyhow. It is faster, and much less susceptible to spyware and adware. You can learn more about Firefox here.

Now there is a new pet that is the top of my wish list. Only if I can bring him to work though….

Public library lends out book-filled iPod Shuffles

Here’s an interesting story that I came across on engadget.com. Having recently become an iPod user myself, I’m thinking seriously now about some of the ways we might be able to use podcasting in literature courses.



We know that small-town libraries have shed their image as fusty repositories of moldering encyclopedias and are now high-tech temples of e-learning, but we were still impressed to find out that at least one library has come up with a novel way to get teens into libraries: put audiobooks onto iPod Shuffles. We have it on good word that the South Huntington Public Library in Suffolk County, New York, is doing just that. They apparently have a handful of Shuffles, pre-loaded with books, and are planning to add more.

Dept. saves with online syllibi

Between budget cuts and advancing technology, the traditional paper syllabus is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

This is an interesting story. I wonder how much paper we could all save by using online syllabi and coursepacks on CD?

One of the things I try to write on a regular basis is the newsletter for Northwest Passages. The Compass is a newsletter that talks about the latest Canadian literature news, new books hitting the virtual shelves on our online bookstore, and, when I get a chance to write my monthly editorial (which is conspicuously absent in February’s issue), my thoughts on the world of Canadian literature.

So, in case you haven’t read the Compass, here’s the entire February issue for you to take a look at if you wish. To subscribe, simply e-mail subscribe@nwpassages.com

[Read more →]

This article from the Vanguard asks about Nigerian literature some of the same questions we’ve been asking about Canadian literature in my Canadian literature class. While Canadian books today are almost always published in Canada as well as abroad, we certainly do have a number of prominent Canadian writers who have long lived outside of Canada, such as Mavis Gallant or Nancy Huston. Is there still a certain Canadian sensibility or style that qualifies these works as Canadian literature? I would argue so. To define a national identity or literature purely around geographical location oversimplifies and impoverishes both.

And yet, we in the West have also eagerly appropriated the diasporic literatures of other nations as our own, often as quickly as someone arrives and begins to write in his or her new country of residence. Can a book or writer be both from his or her country of origin and from the country in which the writing takes place? My inclination is to answer yes, though I would have a hard time accepting someone referring to my own work as that of an American professor or critic of Canadian literature.

Mcphilips Nwachukwu asks some excellent questions here:

I do not presume to be troubled by the same broad questions raised by Obi Wali, but I am compelled in this essay to ask: what is Nigerian literature? Is it only literature written by Nigerians living in Nigeria and published in Nigeria? Does this literature have to express itself idiomatically and ideologically as a Nigerian experience? What in fact is the Nigerian experience? In other words, if a Nigerian writer living in Nigeria writes lyrically about the streets of New York City with African-American characters realistically conveying a lived experience, and if such work is published in Nigeria by a Nigerian based publisher, would it be considered Nigerian literature? In other words, what has residency in Nigeria got to do with it? What qualifies a Nigerian writer to claim identity?

As I said, I think these are all interesting questions, and not just for Nigerian literature, obviously. In terms of literary prizes, though, is there not also something to be said for a national prize that helps to encourage writers living in Nigeria who have chosen not to leave?

“As in the world of literature, sometimes hockey’s not pretty.” — Margaret Atwood

Check out the video of Margaret Atwood’s tips on how to stop a puck from this week’s episode of The Monday Report. I can’t think of much better than seeing Margaret in goalie gear as she says: “I don’t like to hotdog, but if the puck carrier’s really putting lumber on it, then Momma can get nasty!”

If this piques your interest in the connections between hockey and literature, check out Richard Harrison’s book Hero of the Play or the anthology ICE: New Writing on Hockey. In April, I’ll be giving a paper on Harrison’s work at a conference called “Canada’s Game? Critical Perspectives on Ice Hockey and Identity.“ If only I could bring Margaret along with me….

Note: you can now find the video clip of Atwood on the Back Issues page of the Monday Report website. Look for the segment in the week of January 31, 2005.

Until fairly recently, Britain had an amazingly vital autodidact culture, where a large minority of the working classes passionately pursued classic literature, philosophy, and music. They were denied the educational privileges that Professor Smith enjoyed, but they knew that the “great books” that she derided would emancipate the workers.

The Classics in the Slums by Jonathan Rose is a great article that ties into a number of the readings I’ve been giving to my students in English 086. I’m looking forward to reading Rose’s book The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes.

Earlier tonight I received the following note from Rowling’s Canadian publisher, Raincoast Books:

December 20, 2004

Today on her website, J.K. Rowling wished fans a Merry Christmas and a

Happy New Year.

She also announced that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6 in

the Harry Potter series) is completed and an official announcement from

the publishers will be available within 24 hours.

To read the news and solve the clues, visit J.K. Rowling’s official

website.

http://www.jkrowling.com

Strangely, given that we’re talking about Harry Potter, I’ve found no corroborating stories online nor have I yet found anything on Rowling’s site….

Is this a scoop?

UPDATE: Here’s the first story I’ve seen backing this up. The date should be announced later today.