UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Prize Possession: Literary Awards, the GGs, and the CanLit Nation by Owen Percy A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH CALGARY, ALBERTA JANUARY 2010 ©OwenPercy 2010 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre inference ISBN: 978-0-494-64130-9 Our file Notre r6f6rence ISBN: 978-0-494-64130-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Nnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. •+• Canada Abstract To date, the discussion of Canadian literary prizes as culturally influential forces — and indeed as cultural practice — has remained largely journalistic. "Prize Possession" opens the academic dialogue on the influence of awards on conceptions of Canadian poetry and literary culture by examining Canada's oldest and, until recently, most prestigious literary prizes, the Governor General's Awards. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's theorization of the fields of cultural production, this dissertation argues that literary prizes can be read as sites of conflation between 'restricted' cultural endeavours like poetry and more 'large-scale' and popular cultural events by nature of the competitive model introduced by the prizing of the arts, and that this conflation affects the ways in which Canadian poetry is conceived of in both academic and popular communities. The case of the GGs is of particular interest in the era of globalization because of the cultural-nationalist implications invoked and enforced by their federal mandate and sponsorship. "Prize Possession" begins by arguing that awards can be read as Derridean 'gifts' which initiate a symbolic (and economic) cycle of prestige designed, eventually, to return to the original giver. It then examines the official mandate of the GGs in relation to the major shifts in the history of critical thought about Canadian poetry since the Awards' inception in 1936 and contextualizes the prize's relationship to ongoing debates and conceptions of canonicity. This dissertation then examines shortlisted and winning works from representative years (books by F.R. Scott, Alfred Bailey, and Barry MacKinnon for 1981 [the first year the GGs designated Poetry an independent category], books by Don McKay, Judith Fitzgerald, Anne Michaels, Don Domanski, and Patrick Lane for 1991, and ii books by George Elliott Clarke, Anne Carson, Steve McCaffery, Robert Kroetsch, and Phil Hall for 2001), as well as selected work by relevant jurists, in order to argue that the Awards continue to uphold a state-sanctioned construction of 'CanLit' that is increasingly incongruent with contemporary critical purviews. The study concludes by speculating on the direction the GGs might take in order to remain viable and engaged in an increasingly globalizing cultural environment. In general this dissertation aims to emphasize how phenomena like prizes — which are often thought to be extra-literary and market-driven — are of significant import to literary culture and the way that poetry is portrayed, produced, and consumed in twenty-first century Canada. m Acknowledgements Thanks first to Harry Vandervlist, whose guidance and support have been integral to "Prize Possession." His generosity of mind, energy, and time have been a gift. (But not the kind that.. .nevermind.) Thanks also to Team Bos-Vandervlist for opening up to me a nicer workspace than I could have hoped for. The guiding encouragement, subtle prodding, and general enthusiasm of both Aritha van Herk and Christian Bok have been essential over the past four years; I am indebted to them. (But not in the way that Atwood.. .ugh.) The intellectual graciousness of Frank Davey and Laura Moss in sharing their unpublished work with me has been humbling, and I fear that the conversations I've had with Jean Baird, George Bowering, George Elliott Clarke, Joanne Larocque-Poirier, Diane Miljours, and John Steffler have been markedly one-sided exchanges of intellectual capital. I hope to repay them all somehow, someday. Thanks to Kevin Flynn for getting me into this mess in the first place. Thanks to Robert Kroetsch for convincing me that this was the mess I wanted. He was right. Thanks also to Shawn Malley, Pamela McCallum, Lucie Hotte, George Melnyk, Joel Baetz, Susan Rudy, Pamela Banting, Lynn Penrod, Candida Rifkind, and Julie Rak, for each, in their own way, looking out for me and/or for this project. An excerpted version of my Introduction, "GGs and Gillers and Griffins, Oh My!," is forthcoming in the Canadian Literature Centre's inaugural publication, Seedlings: Transplanting Canada/ Semailles: Transplanter le Canada, edited by Marie Carriere and Jerry White. Thanks to both for their hard work. IV To my prized Calgary friends Leo Jenkins, Tiffany Neddow, Jackie Jenkins, Stefania Forlini, Joe Kristoffersen, and Kenna Olsen: Without you I'd be much less happy. Probably much skinnier too. Thank you for sustaining me in mind, body, and spirit(s). Finally, and most importantly, I'd like to thank Robyn Read, my editor in life (editor-in-wife?), who pulls everything together, makes it sound better, and who makes it all make sense. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This dissertation is for her, and for my family who have made anything and everything possible for me. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents vi Epigraphs viii INTRODUCTION: GGs and Gillers and Griffins, Oh My!: The Rise of the Prize in CanLit 1 The Awards System as a Hole 12 The Implication of the Nation 20 Literary Awards in Canada, or, A Brief History of Awards in CanLit 26 The GGs as Literary History, or, A Brief History of CanLit in Awards 39 Starting to Begin 42 CHAPTER l:To(a)wards a Theory of Prizing 44 You Shouldn't Have! 48 Oh, It Was Nothing 53 'Tis Better 58 Resisting Arrest 62 Scandalous (Granting) Bodies 65 Peering at Juries 73 Northern Reflections 80 CHAPTER 2: Loading the Canon With Trophies: Prizing and Canonicity in Canada 87 Condescending to Contemporaneity and Conceiving of Canons 88 Classes, Classes, Classes 96 Prefiguring Consolidation From Basecamp 105 Can Can-Con Con? Counting (on) Canadian Canons Ill CASE STUDY—1981: Great Scott, How Could They Not? 126 The Collected Poems of F.R. Scott by F.R. Scott 129 Miramichi Lightning by A.G. Bailey 138 The the by Barry McKinnon 146 Consecrations and Conclusions 156 CHAPTER 3: Restating the Nation: The Canada Council, Nation-State Ideology, and the Institutionalization of CanLit 162 Instituting Institutions 164 Governing the Nation Generally 172 Stating the Nation 177 Schooling (and) the Critics 193 vi CASE STUDY— 1991: Don of an Era 199 Night Field by Don McKay 200 Mortal Remains by Patrick Lane 206 Wolf-Ladder by Don Domanski 211 Miner's Pond by Anne Michaels 217 Rapturous Chronicles by Judith Fitzgerald 223 Consecrations and Conclusions 229 CHAPTER 4: The 'CanLit' Problem: Globalization, Transnationalism, and the Ethical Turn 236 Surrendering or Revolting: Patterning Isolation and Surviving the 'Butterfly on Rock' Literary History of Canada 237 Re: approaching CanLit 245 Criticizing Criticizing 252 "Canadian" Literary (Funding) Power 256 CASE STUDY — 2001: Re-Member History, By George! 274 Execution Poems by George Elliott Clarke 275 Trouble Sleeping by Phil Hall 285 Men in the Off Hours by Anne Carson 292 The Hornbooks of Rita K by Robert Kroetsch 300 Seven Pages Missing, Vol. I by Steve McCaffery 306 Consecrations and Conclusions 319 CONCLUSION: Re(a)warding Ourselves: The Futures of the GG Awards 333 Casing the Studies 334 Branding CanLit, Naturalizing Readerships 337 Reinstateing the Nation 343 Lament for a Council 350 Re-jigging Juries 357 An Immodest Proposal 365 Envelope Please 374 Works Cited 377 vn Prize, sb.l lc: A premium offered to the person who exhibits the best specimens of natural productions, works of art, or manufactures at a competition designed to support the study, cultivation, or production of such objects, or at an exhibition or 'show' arranged for the instruction or amusement of visitors. The Oxford English Dictionary, "Prize" Awards mean absolutely' .nothing to-me..; Not nominated again, eh? •jr- J.. George Murray, "Awards' Prizes are gifts from the old To the young who are old. Those who have arrived Search in the mirror of youth For their own reflection.