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Canoe Nation
Nature, Race, and the Making of a Canadian Icon
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Bruce Erickson
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2013
About this book
More than an ancient means of transportation and trade, the canoe has come to be a symbol of Canada itself. In Canoe Nation, Bruce Erickson chronicles the story of the canoe in the Canadian imagination. He argues that the canoe’s sentimental power has come about through a set of narratives that attempt to legitimize a particular vision of Canada and explores how the canoe went from being an industrial-economic vehicle to a purely recreational vessel. From Alexander Mackenzie to Grey Owl to Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the canoe has been overvalued as a connection to the “nature” of Canada. Examining voyageur re-enactments, turn-of-the-century sportsman stories, and the subsequent “greening” of the canoe, this book shows how this symbol authenticates Canada’s reputation as a tolerant, environmentalist nation, even when there is abundant evidence to the contrary. Ultimately, the stories we tell about the canoe need to be understood as moments in the ever-contested field of cultural politics.
Author / Editor information
Bruce Erickson is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at York University in Toronto.
Reviews
Canoe nation explores how the canoe is not only an important object of Canada’s understanding of itself as a nation, but also a vital and changing practice that is key to historically specific configurations of economics, landscapes, and modes of governance and citizenship. Ranging from the fur trade to celebrity wilderness paddling and tracing complex connections among economic, colonial, pedagogical, recreational, and environmental desires, Erickson’s brilliantly original analysis shows that the canoe is, quite literally, a vehicle of power in the Canadian national landscape.
Topics
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Front Matter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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Illustrations
ix -
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Preface
xi -
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Introduction
1 -
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Pedagogical Canoes
34 -
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I Fish, Therefore I Am
87 -
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Regimes of Whiteness
120 -
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Recreational Nationalism
152 -
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Conclusion
186 -
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Notes
203 -
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References
213 -
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Index
224
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
August 3, 2023
eBook ISBN:
9780774822503
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
252
eBook ISBN:
9780774822503
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
