Constructions of National
Identities
E. Birney, M. Atwood, Ray Smith
The Decline of the American Empire
How is Nation Identity
Constructed?
 History & Culture (e.g. “Who Are We?”)
 National Character (defined as different from the
Other[s]) e.g. Atwood’s poems, “CanLit”
 Land, Landscape and Boundaries
 National Allegories & Fantasies
 Collage of Individuals’ stories
“Cape Breton”
US/Canada Boundaries
Without national defense;
 Invisible esp. during the times of

Independence War –the Royalists moved to Ontario and
Atlantic Provinces,
Vietnam war,
After the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement—
abolishing customs tax)
Great for shoppers & businessmen
 80% of Canada’s Trade made with the Americans.

Outline
 E. Birney,
 M. Atwood,
 Ray Smith
 Denys Arcand
The Decline of the American
Empire
 For next week . . .
Earl Birney’s “Can. Lit.”
 Contraries:
 Eagles vs. wrens and hens
“alone” (individualism) vs. Loneliness;
 bones vs. Railways
 Civil war vs. civil bore
 Whitman vs. wounded, lack of ghost

Margaret Atwood
Concerned with Canada’s

cultural identity; Feminist
concerns
 Survival (1972)
 Duality “Tricks with Mirror”;
Two-Headed Poems (1978)
 Victim mentality
 Developed from simple and bare
style and a concern with
alienated identity to a wider
range of styles and concerns.
 e.g. Edible Woman

Margaret Atwood (2)

Postmodern, selfreflexive mode
 e.g. Historical female
figures: Moodie,
“Marrying the
Hangman”..

mixing poetry and
fiction, mixing a lot of
genres (Gothic,
detective story, fairy
tales, family romance,
comedy, allegory, etc.)

Female Identities in Atwood’s
Poems
 Duality: inner and interpersonal  both female
and Canadian
 Cannot be encased by photograph or mirror;
 Despite the limited conditions (of being a mirror
or dead), retain their independence and vivid
consciousness;
 Express their Body-consciousness and their Will
expressed through their bodies
Photograph & Mirror
“This is a photograph of Me” –gradual
revelation of a female self which is ultimately in
enclosed but unknown.
 “Tricks with Mirrors”—

mirror as a perfect lover;
mirror’s self-value;
mirror’s efforts (restraints)
mirror changed to a door
a pool
Susanna Moodie
 1832 from England to Upper Canada
 Her work: Ploughing it in the Bush, Life in the
Clearings.
 Atwood’s “Thoughts from the Underground”:
retains a conscious identity after death;
two parts of the poem: continuous and fragmented
“Marrying the Hangman”
 History–no fantasy but open to speculation
the present, possibilities of rape
 Does not present her as a heroin; describes how
she manages to use her body to survive.
 Pay attention to the body images.
Cape
Breton
In Nova Scotia, one
of Maritime
Provinces (or
Atlantic Canada)
 Poorer areas
http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/reference/provincesterritories/maritimes
Cape
Breton
coal mining, lumbering, fishing,
and summer tourism e.g. the film
“Margaret Museum”
 Since 1955 the island has been
linked to the mainland by a
causeway across the Strait of
Canso, making it the eastern land
terminus of both the Trans-Canada
Highway and the Canadian
National Railway.

"Cape Breton Island." Encyclopædia Britannica 2003 Encyclopædia Britannica Premium
Service. 10 Mar, 2003 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=20415>.
Cape
Breton
Strathlorne, Inverness County, Cape Breton
Broad Cove Marsh, Inverness County, NS
Summer, 1997
Strathlorne,
Inverness
County, Cape
Breton
Autumn, 1996
http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/waterford/21/cbpics.htm
Cape Breton is the Thought
Control Centre of Canada
 Published in 1969
 Ray
Smith, born 1941, is from Mabou,
Nova Scotia, Canada. Mabou is a beautiful
village on the west coast of the island of
Cape Breton
 1963-- moved to Toronto,
 1968 -- to Montreal
http://www.pluto.no/doogie/volapuk/Festival/hostfestival2000/smith.htm
“Cape Breton”—Centennial project
 1867--Canada become a confederation of former
colonies (The British North America Act)
 1967 – Expo (World Exposition) in Montreal
“Cape Breton”: Historical Circumstances
1960‘s -- Quiet Revolution
1967 -- 法國總統戴高樂在蒙特婁演說，高
呼「魁北克自由萬歲」，成為魁省獨派
人士的精神口號。
1968 -- 魁北克黨成立，以爭取魁北克脫
離加拿大而獨立為職志。
1969--Official Languages Act
1970：爆發「十月危機」(October Crisis)，
「魁北克解放陣線」策動一連串恐怖事
件。
Cape Breton is the Thought
Control Centre of Canada

Composed of the following sections:
Dialogue/Relationship between a couple; pp. 357, 360; 361;
365; 369  allegory of a man in front of a mirror 369
Other individuals’ stories: Judy 358; Bill and George 360;
Existence in nature;
Canadian Arts (including the writer’s) 359
Talk to “you” about Canada/US relations pp. 357, 359; 362;
365; 368;
 Fantasies: p. 357 (The Resistance); 359; 360; 361; 365
Analogy made to Poland 358; 362;
Cape Breton is the Thought
Control Centre of Canada
 Questions:
 What do you think about the presentations of the
couple and the views of the Americans?
 How about the individuals presented in the story?
Allusions in the story


NDP – New Democratic Party (of Canada)
Peace Bridge -- at the mouth of the
Niagara River, at Fort Erie Canada and is
pointed East to Buffalo
Arcand and Quebec separatism
1960 – Quiet Revolution
1970 – October Crisis
(Artists such as D. Arcand started to convey
their political messages through arts.)
1974：魁北克通過法文為官方語言。
1977︰178 Act強制境內商業招牌一律使用法文。
1980：勒維克提出「主權聯繫」計畫，主張魁北
克為獨立國家，但仍與加拿大維持密切關係，
魁北克針對此計畫舉行公投(referendum)，反
對者以59%得票率獲勝。
 Referendum: 1993; 1995
Arcand and Quebec separatism
Arcand
 early works in the 1970’s (e.g. Gina):
socialist and separatist;
 80’s – critique the loss of idealism and
degradation of human civilization;
The Comfort and the Indifference (documentary)
Decline (1986); Jesus of Montreal (1989),
90’s – Love and Human Remains (1993
English);
 2000 – Stardom (English)

The Decline of the American
Empire
 The
characters:
 Lonely people: Claude, Diane,
Dominique;
 Couple: Remy and Louise, Pierre and
Danielle
 Outsider: Mario, Danielle, Alain
The Decline of the American
Empire: structure
 Balanced
by the meeting of the 8
people;
 Before: the four men in the kitchen,
talking about sex and extra-marital
affairs, the four women in a gym;
 After: more connections
Questions
 What is the film about?
Why is it called The
Decline of Amdricna Empire? Clip 11
 What are the characters afraid of?
 Is the film sympathetic or critical of these
characters?
Critique of the Academics
 Their theories –
not necessarily right Clips 1, 2,
reflecting their own position clip 9, 11, 12
 Their flippant views of sex & marriage –
Pierre
Remy
Their Limitations and Fears
 Shown in the Setting (clips 3, 5);
 Claude – illness (clip 4), dangerous sex (clip 6)
Pierre – fear of telephone rings
 Dominique – lonely, “rage” in the morning,
renewing herself with love with Alain
 Diane – (clip 9) aging, insecurity
 Louise – wants to be slim, blind to her
husband’s disloyalty, serving him all the time.

Their Mutual Support
 Claude comforting Louise
Diane comforting Claude
 Danielle and Louise playing the piano together
 forming a garrison among them (final snow
scene)

The Film’s Other
Claude as homosexual ?
 The anonymous Oriental, Martinique, African
sex objects;
 Mustafa (clip 7)

Next Week
Stardom (about a world famous model): see discussion
questions in EngSite. - The English Patient – chaps 1 & 2
 plot not straightforward, but circular.

Narration -- (e.g. After we see Hana in the villa and then we
get to know her decision to stay with the EP there [chap 1])
Re-telling stories of their past
Major Characters: EP, Hana, Caravaggio, Kip (a Sikh
sapper) –international bastards
 Themes: fragmented identity// memory, reading,
boundary-breaking forces (desert, war)
