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Interrogating the Nation in Earle Birney, Phyllis Webb, and Leonard Cohen

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Interrogating the Nation in Earle Birney, Phyllis Webb, and Leonard Cohen THE QUESTION AS AN INSTRUMENT OF NATIONALISM: INTERROGATING THE NATION IN EARLE BIRNEY, PHYLLIS WEBB, AND LEONARD COHEN by Virginia Mae Houk Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia August 2012 © Copyright by Virginia Mae Houk, 2012 DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH The undersigned hereby certify that they have read and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate Studies for acceptance a thesis entitled “The Question as an Instrument of Nationalism: Interrogating the Nation in Earle Birney, Phyllis Webb, and Leonard Cohen” by Virginia Mae Houk in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Dated: August 22, 2012 Supervisor: _________________________________ Readers: _________________________________ _________________________________ ii DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY DATE: August 22, 2012 AUTHOR: Virginia Mae Houk TITLE: The Question as an Instrument of Nationalism: Interrogating the Nation in Earle Birney, Phyllis Webb, and Leonard Cohen DEPARTMENT OR SCHOOL: Department of English DEGREE: MA CONVOCATION: October YEAR: 2012 Permission is herewith granted to Dalhousie University to circulate and to have copied for non-commercial purposes, at its discretion, the above title upon the request of individuals or institutions. I understand that my thesis will be electronically available to the public. The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author’s written permission. The author attests that permission has been obtained for the use of any copyrighted material appearing in the thesis (other than the brief excerpts requiring only proper acknowledgement in scholarly writing), and that all such use is clearly acknowledged. _______________________________ Signature of Author iii To My Parents & Guillaume iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED ..................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 2 EARLE BIRNEY ............................................................................................... 20 2.1 CRISIS OF IDENTITY ........................................................................................... 26 2.2 RESPONDING TO INTERROGATION ......................................................... 38 CHAPTER 3 PHYLLIS WEBB ............................................................................................... 45 3.1 SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH ....................................................................... 49 3.2 TRIAL AND JUDGEMENT ................................................................................. 53 3.3 INTERROGATIVE TORTURE ........................................................................... 57 CHAPTER 4 LEONARD COHEN ....................................................................................... 63 4.1 DECONSTRUCTING THE PALIMPSEST ...................................................... 71 4.2 ON THE BORDERS OF IDENTITY ................................................................. 78 4.3 RECONSTRUCTION OF "TRUTH" WITHIN THE MACHINE .............. 87 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 95 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 101 v ABSTRACT Through the study of selected works written by Earle Birney, Phyllis Webb, and Leonard Cohen, this thesis seeks to interrogate the wave of modern Canadian nationalism and culture construction that grew as a result of the loosening ties to British roots, the increasing infiltration of American influence, and the political climate following the Second World War. As the Cold War began to take root, Canada found itself amid not only a political conflict, but also a barrage of emerging mass media on a global scale. As a result of this crossfire of national voices, the Canadian culturati made efforts to join in the conversation—through national radio, film, literature, and the creation of a new flag and dictionary—but before the nation could speak, it had to answer the questions that dominated the era: Who is Canada? What is the voice of Canada? Whose voice speaks for the nation? This thesis aims to study the evolution of the answers that were given to these questions. Through the lens of nationalist theory, translation theory, and the postcolonial Gothic, this thesis traces a route from Birney’s attempt to create a nation within a perceived “lack of ghosts,” to Webb’s efforts to question the very question of nationalism, ultimately to Cohen’s illumination of the internal mechanics of national identity as he worked to reconstruct it in a movement toward the Clear Light. vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED CBC Canadian Broadcasting Corporation CCF Co-operative Commonwealth Federation CRBC Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NFB National Film Board of Canada NORAD North American Air Defense Command OAS Organization of American States RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police UN United Nations US United States USA United States of America USSR Union of Socialist Republics vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are so many people who helped me get to this point in my life that it’s hard to know where to begin. First and foremost I have to thank my parents. From reading me medieval fairy tales, “Little Miss” books, and chapters of C.S Lewis before bed; to taking me to the local library whenever I asked; to forcing me to read the entire unabridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo (which later became my favorite book) in the summer before ninth grade English; to filling my book shelves—and the book shelves in every other room of the house—I thank you from the bottom of my heart for starting my addiction to reading at a very young age and for introducing me to this incredible tradition of storytelling and self-expression. But even more than the books, all of you— Bev, Leslie, Mary Anne, and Tammy—have supported me, encouraged me, inspired me, loved me, and have believed in me during every moment, every step, of my life and for this invaluable gift, I am forever grateful. No matter which path I choose, I know that y’all will always stand behind me and this is the most awesome gift. Second, I thank you Guillaume. From cooking dinner alone on the nights that I really could not stop working, to constantly encouraging me and loving me, to challenging me to take my studies outside of the classroom and outside of the written word as you introduced me to entirely new modes of creativity and expression, you have become a constant rock of stability, breath of happiness, warmth of comfort (like Christmas! ☺) in my life and I can no longer imagine it without you. Thank you for letting me rediscover through your eyes the beauty of Nova Scotia and the wondrous miracle of standing at the edge of the untamed ocean for the first time. I simply hope that for you I can be at least half of what you’ve been for me. Third, I’d like to thank my grandparents in Kentucky, Amos and Frances. You both mean more to me than I can ever express. I never called as often as I wanted to, but whenever we spoke you two always became a bright spot in my day with all of our laughter and love. You constantly reminded me not to work too hard, you encouraged my faith, and I thank you so much for this constant reminder of the priorities in my life. Thank you for making my “ears burn” so often, for always opening your doors to me as my home away from home, and for all of your many prayers. I am forever blessed to have two such beautiful people as my grandparents. Finally I have a few professors at Dalhousie to thank. Dr. Irvine, your willingness and enthusiasm to work with me on both my graduate application and my entire thesis from the other side of an international border has been remarkable and I thank you. Dr. White, for challenging the reach of my scholarship and for your incredible turnaround speed, my thesis and I are quite indebted. Dr. Evans, thank you for stepping in at the last minute to ensure that I’d dotted my i’s and crossed all of my t’s before the final deadline. Dr. Tillotson and Dr. Wunker, this thesis would not be what it is without both of your mind-bending seminars. And Dr. Stewart, thank you for bringing my literary interests beyond the scope of Victorian literature and for introducing me to my own dangling modifiers and use of “that” when I really mean “who.” I finally feel like a true English nerd. viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION During the first decades of the Cold War, nationalist ideologies dominated broadcast and print media—most notably within the culture crossfire between the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During the 1940s, the radio programme Voices of America was broadcast worldwide as a form of global public relations, funded by tens of millions of dollars from the US State Department (Lehman 26). In contrast, a decade earlier, the Canadian Radio Broadcasting
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