Winfried Siemerling

Winner of the English Book Award, Grand Prix du Livre 2006 de la Ville de Sherbrooke. In this original and groundbreaking study, Winfried Siemerling examines the complexities of identity and recognition in the meaning of 'American'.

Culture, Writing and the Politics of Re/cognition

The New North American Studies

The Black Atlantic Reconsidered is the first comprehensive work to explore Black Canadian literature from its beginnings to the present in the broader context of the Black Atlantic world. Winfried Siemerling traces the evolution of black Canadian witnessing and writing from slave testimony in New France and the 1783 "Book of Negroes" through the work of contemporary black Canadian writers including Austin Clarke, George Elliott Clarke, Dionne Brand, Wayde Compton, and Esi Edugyan. Arguing that Black writing in Canada is deeply imbricated in a historic transnational network, Winfried Siemerling explores the powerful presence of Black Canadian history, slavery, the Underground Railroad, and the Black diaspora in the work of contemporary Black Canadian writers. Individual chapters examine the literature that has emerged from Quebec, Nova Scotia, the Prairies, and British Columbia, with attention to writing in both English and French.

L'Atlantique noir et la présence du passé

Les écritures noires du Canada

Les écritures noires du Canada est le premier ouvrage à explorer la littérature canadienne des Noirs de ses débuts jusqu’à nos jours dans le vaste contexte de l’Atlantique noir. Winfried Siemerling retrace l’évolution de l’écriture des Noirs canadiens depuis les témoignages d’esclaves en Nouvelle-France et le « Livre des Nègres » de 1783 jusqu’aux œuvres d’auteurs canadiens noirs comme Austin Clarke, George Elliott Clarke, Dionne Brand, Wayde Compton et Esi Edugyan. Soutenant que l’écriture noire au Canada est profondément imbriquée dans le réseau transnational historique, Siemerling se penche sur la force de l’histoire des Noirs canadiens, de l’esclavage, du chemin de fer clandestin et de la diaspora noire dans l’œuvre de ces auteurs. Au fil des chapitres sont examinés des écrits de langue française et de langue anglaise qui tirent leur origine du Québec, de l’Ontario, de la Nouvelle-Écosse, des Prairies et de la Colombie-Britannique. Dans Les écritures noires du Canada, Winfried Siemerling examine l’écriture des Noirs au Canada en anglais et en français, du début du dix-huitième siècle jusqu’au présent en la situant dans son contexte vis-à-vis de l’État-nation et de l’Atlantique noir transnational. Cet ouvrage à la fois novateur et favorisera les discussions en classe et à l’université sur ce corpus peu étudié. Grâce à une brillante analyse des représentations littéraires de l’histoire chez les Noirs du Canada, il marquera l’histoire. – Jury, Prix Gabrielle-Roy 2015

L’Atlantique noir et la présence du passé

Readers are often surprised to learn that black writing in Canada is over two centuries old. Ranging from letters, editorials, sermons, and slave narratives to contemporary novels, plays, poetry, and non-fiction, black Canadian writing represents a rich body of literary and cultural achievement. The Black Atlantic Reconsidered is the first comprehensive work to explore black Canadian literature from its beginnings to the present in the broader context of the black Atlantic world. Winfried Siemerling traces the evolution of black Canadian witnessing and writing from slave testimony in New France and the 1783 "Book of Negroes" through the work of contemporary black Canadian writers including George Elliott Clarke, Austin Clarke, Dionne Brand, David Chariandy, Wayde Compton, Esi Edugyan, Marlene NourbeSe Philip, and Lawrence Hill. Arguing that black writing in Canada is deeply imbricated in a historic transnational network, Siemerling explores the powerful presence of black Canadian history, slavery, and the Underground Railroad, and the black diaspora in the work of these authors. Individual chapters examine the literature that has emerged from Quebec, Nova Scotia, the Prairies, and British Columbia, with attention to writing in both English and French. A major survey of black writing and cultural production, The Black Atlantic Reconsidered brings into focus important works that shed light not only on Canada's literature and history, but on the transatlantic black diaspora and modernity.

Black Canadian Writing, Cultural History, and the Presence of the Past

The Black Atlantic Reconsidered

Sarah Phillips Casteel

The chapters in this volume, a groundbreaking work in the burgeoning field of hemispheric American studies, expand the horizons of Canadian and Québécois literatures, suggest alternative approaches to models centred on the United States, and analyze the risks and benefits of hemispheric approaches to Canada and Quebec. Revealing the connections among a broad range of Canadian, Québécois, American, Caribbean, Latin American, and diasporic literatures, the contributors critique the neglect of Canadian works in Hemispheric studies and show how such writing can be successfully integrated into an emerging area of literary inquiry. An important development in understanding the diversity of literatures throughout the western hemisphere, Canada and Its Americas reveals exciting new ways for thinking about transnationalism, regionalism, border cultures, and the literatures they produce.

Transnational Navigations

Canada & Its Americas

In the last few decades Canadian and Québécois literatures have been catapulted onto the global stage, gaining international readership and recognition. Canada and Its Americas challenges the convention that study of this literature should be limited to its place within national borders, arguing that these works should be examined from the perspective of their place and influence within the Americas as a whole. The essays in this volume, a groundbreaking work in the burgeoning field of hemispheric American studies, expand the horizons of Canadian and Québécois literatures, suggest alternative approaches to models centred on the United States, and analyse the risks and benefits of hemispheric approaches to Canada and Quebec. Revealing the connections among a broad range of Canadian, Québécois, American, Caribbean, Latin American, and diasporic literatures, the contributors critique the neglect of Canadian works in Hemispheric studies and show how such writing can be successfully integrated into an emerging area of literary inquiry.

culture, écriture et politique de re/connaissance

Récits nord-américains d'émergence

This volume gathers North American cultural comment and literary criticism on the role of particular cultures in what we commonly refer to as Canadian and Québécois literature.

Winfried Siemerling

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