Document generated on 09/25/2021 9:40 a.m.

Studies in Canadian Literature

Manifold Division: Desmond Pacey's History of English-Canadian Poetry Philip Kokotalio

Volume 22, Number 2, Summer 1997 Article abstract Desmond Pacey's career as a critic of Canadian literature and criticism, URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/scl22_2art01 beginning with his prefiguring of a pattern later developed by others such as A.J.M. Smith and John Sutherland, ultimately ends with his confirming the lines See table of contents of regional decentralization that follow from Northrop Frye's re-creation of that very same early work. An outline of Pacey's career in effect traces the trajectory of the work of Smith, Sutherland, and Frye, and, as do all reflections, Publisher(s) it actually serves to reverse what it ostensibly replicates. A re-examination of Pacey's history of Canadian literature reveals its movements of retreat, re-inscription, and relocation; its most characteristic leanings are toward ISSN ambivalence and paradox. Despite Pacey's striving for a sort of synthesis in the history of Canadian literature, his history ends in a representation of manifold 0380-6995 (print) division. Similarly, his history of Canadian literary criticism ends in binary 1718-7850 (digital) opposition, maturity deferred.

Explore this journal

Cite this article Kokotalio, P. (1997). Manifold Division: Desmond Pacey's History of English-Canadian Poetry. Studies in Canadian Literature, 22(2), 1–27.

All rights reserved © The University of New Brunswick, 1997 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/

This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/