Cultural Landscapes and Identity in Canada



Instructor:    Peter Thompson, School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies,

Carleton University

peter.thompson@carleton.ca


Office Hours: 15:45-16:45, or by appointment

Classroom:


Meeting times: A.M. 10:00 – 11:40; P.M. 14:00 – 15:40


Teaching Assistant: Denisa Krásná, 415695@mail.muni.cz


Course Description:


Landscape has always been a durable and important marker of Canadian cultural identity, from the
fear of the harsh and forbidding landscape characteristic of early settlers, to the idea of the
landscape as a source of spiritual renewal for romantic poets, to the relationship between
Indigenous peoples and the land. At the same time, the relationship between Canadians and the land
has always been at least in part defined in economic terms: Canada’s natural resources fuelled
settlement, position the country as an important exporter of oil, timber, and fresh water, and have
led to contests between the settler society and Indigenous communities.


Structure of the Class:


This course will function as an informal seminar in which every member of the class has a
responsibility to foster discussion, approach topics respectfully and seriously, and contribute to
the overall learning environment. In order to achieve this, students are expected to come to class
having done the readings and with questions about the material and the larger objectives of the
course. Each class will begin with a short overview of the topic by the instructor and will include
broader discussions of the issues and break-out workshops and exercises.


Course Objectives


1. To examine the role of landscape and space in understanding Canadian cultural identity.


2. To introduce students to recent scholarship in spatial identity theory, heritage studies, and
cultural studies.


3. To encourage students to critically examine the conflict between environmental determinism and
social construction as it relates to perceptions of the built and natural environment in Canada.


4. To improve students’ critical thinking skills, critical reading skills, and written and oral
communication through class discussions and written assignments.


Assessment


1. Student Portfolio (50% -5 X 10%)

You will reflect on issues and ideas raised in each class by writing a 500-word reply to a question
provided by the instructor at the end of each day. The goal is to demonstrate knowledge of issues
raised in class and the readings and to connect them to course objectives. Submit by 3 May, 2019.


2. Research Essay (50%)

Students will write a research essay (B.A. students: 2000 words; M.A. students 3000 words). Topics
and guidelines will be discussed in the first class and then throughout the sessions. Submit by 17
May, 2019



Course Readings


The readings for this course are available on the course ELF page.


Class 1: Introductions: discussion of student landscape responses


Class 2: Canada and Cultural Landscapes


Northrop Frye, “From ‘Conclusion to the Literary History of Canada.’” Unhomely States:

Theorising Canadian Postcolonialism 9-20.


Margaret Atwood, “From Survival,” Unhomely States: Theorising Canadian Postcolonialism.

20-39.


Eva Mackey. “Death By Landscape: Race, Nature and Gender in Nationalist Mythology,”

Canadian Women’s Studies (2000). 125-130.


Class 3: Contesting Landscape

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, “Land as Pedagogy: Nishnaabeg Intelligence and Rebellious
Transformation,” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society 3 (2014), 1-25.

Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang. “Decolonization is Not a Metaphor.” Decolonization: Indigeneity,
Education & Society Vol. 1, No. 1, 2012, pp. 1-40 (read p 1-10)

Chelsea Vowel, “Beyond Territorial Acknowledgments,” âpihtawiskosisân blog, September 23, 2016,
https://apihtawikosisan.com/2016/09/beyond-territorial-acknowledgments/.

Class 4: Monuments


Chelsey R. Carter, "Racist Monuments Are Killing Us," Museum Anthropology 41, no. 2 (2018):
139-141.

Gwendolyn W. Saul and Diana E. Marsh, "In Whose Honor? On Monuments, Public Spaces, Historical
Narratives, and Memory," Museum Anthropology 41, no. 2 (2018): 117-120.

Boffa, Adriana. "The Question of Residential Schools in Canada: Preserve, Demolish, or Repurpose?,"
Canadian Social Studies 49, no. 1 (2017): 11-14.

Davidson, Tonya. “Imperial Nostalgia, Social Ghosts, and Canada’s National War Memorial.” Space and
Culture, May 2016; vol. 19, 2: pp. 177-191

Class 5: Urban Landscapes

Julie Tomiak. 2016. “Unsettling Ottawa: Settler Colonialism, Indigenous Resistance, and the
Politics of Scale.” Canadian Journal of Urban Research 25.1, 8-21.

David Hugill. “What is a Settler Colonial City?” Geography Compass 2017.

Jennifer Nelson. “The Space of Africville, Creating, Regulating and Remembering the Urban ‘Slum’”,
Race, Space and the Law, Unmapping White Settler Society, Between the Lines, Toronto, c2002.
211-232.


Class 6: Discussion of research projects and interests


Class 7: Industrial Landscapes


W.G. Hoskins. “The Industrial Revolution and the Landscape” The Cultural Geography Reader ed. Oakes
and Price. New York: Routledge, 2008. 105-114.


Carol Diehl. “The Toxic Sublime” (Edward Burtynsky), Art in America, February, 2006. 188-123.


William Cronon.  “The Trouble With Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” Uncommon
Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. Ed. William Cronon. New York: Norton, 1996. 69-90.


Class 8: Post-Industrial Landscapes


Linkon, Sherry Lee. 2013. “Narrating the Past and Future: Deindustrialized Landscapes as
Resources.” International Labor and Working Class History 84: 38-54.

Navratil et al. “Brownfields do not “only live twice”: The possibilities for heritage

preservation and the enlargement of leisure time activities in Brno, the Czech Republic” Cities 74
(2018): 52-63.

High, Steven. “The Landscape and Memory of Deindustrialization.” Corporate Wasteland 2007.
https://books.google.ca/books?id=vnjYBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Steven+high+corporate+wastelan
d&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjOl4T3hYDhAhXr6oMKHVU8DUwQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q=Steven%20high%20corporate%20
wasteland&f=false


Class 9: Tourist Landscapes


Alexander Wilson. “The View from the Road.” The Culture of Nature: North American Landscape from
Disney to the Exxon Valdez. Toronto: Between the Lines, 1991. 19-53.


Vaughan, R.M. 1994. “Lobster Is King: Infantilizing Maritime Culture.” Semiotexte(e) 6
(2): 169-72.


Wyile, Herb. 2008. “Going Out of Their Way: Tourism, Authenticity, and Resistance in
       Contemporary Atlantic Canadian Literature.” English Studies in Canada 34 (2-3):
159-80.


Class 10: Conclusion