S T U D I E S I N C A N A D I A N L I T E R A T U R E É T U D E S E N L I T T É R A T U R E C A N A D I E N N E

PAST MATTERS: HISTORY AND CANADIAN FICTION

CHOSES DU PASSÉ: L’HISTOIRE ET LE ROMAN HISTORIQUE

AU CANADA

Co-Editors:

Herb Wyile Jennifer Andrews Robert Viau

VOLUME 27 NUMBER 1 PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK

© 2002

Acting Editor: Jennifer Andrews Editor: John Clement Ball Associate Editors: Laurel Boone, Mary Rimmer

Managing Editor: Sabine Campbell Contributing Editors: Anne Brown, Fred Cogswell Editorial Assistant: Madeline Bassnett

Advisory Board:

Neil Besner University of Winnipeg E.D. Blodgett University of Alberta Gary Boire Wilfrid Laurier University Barry Cameron University of New Brunswick J. Edward Chamberlin University of Toronto Annick Chapdeleine Université McGill Gwen Davies University of New Brunswick Thomas Gerry Laurentian University Terry Goldie York University Sherrill Grace University of British Columbia Ajay Heble University of Guelph

Smaro Kamboureli University of Victoria Susan Knutson Université Ste-Anne Denyse Lynde Memorial University of Nfld Kathy Mezei Simon Fraser University Jean Morency Université de Moncton Laura Moss University of British Columbia Norman Ravvin Concordia University Robert Viau Université du Nouveau-Brunswick Linda Warley University of Waterloo Darryl Whetter University of Windsor Herb Wyile Acadia University

Studies in Canadian Literature/Études en littérature canadienne (SCL/ÉLC) is a biannual refereed journal devoted to the scholarly and critical study of Canadian literature in English and French; it is indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index, the MLA Index, and the American Humanities Index, and is available on-line in the Canadian Business & Current Affairs Database and in microform from Micromedia Ltd., 20 Victoria St., Toronto ON, M5C 2N8.

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Studies in Canadian Literature/Études en littérature canadienne

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Scl/Élc Volume 27.1, 2002

Table of Contents

Introduction: Past Matters/Choses du passé Herb Wyile Jennifer Andrews Robert Viau

5

“Abundantly Worthy of its Past”: Agnes Maule Machar and Early Canadian Historical Fiction

Janice Fiamengo 15

“Dead Girl-Bag”: The Janet Smith Case as Contaminant in Sky Lee’s Disappearing Moon Café Tanis MacDonald 32

La guerre, la mort et les Canadiens français : Les Canadiens errants de Jean Vaillancourt

Robert Viau 47

La question du temps dans Cantique des plaines de Nancy Huston Stephan Hardy 59

“Tampering With the Truth”: John Steffler’s The Afterlife of George Cartwright in Dialogue with History Nicola Renger 69

Truth and History: Representing the Aura in The Englishman’s Boy Daniela Janes 88

Le Premier Jardin d’Anne Hébert et La Maison Trestler de Madeleine Ouellette-Michalska : deux exemples de réécriture historique qui renouvellent le concept d’Histoire Elena Marchese 105

Robert de Roquebrune : la médiation ontologique de l’histoire Luc Bonenfant 120

A Past Which Refuses to Become History: Nazism, Niagara Falls, and a New National Identity in Suzette Mayr’s The Widows

Doris Wolf 135

SCL/ÉLC Interview: The Iceman Cometh Across: An Interview with Thomas Wharton Herb Wyile 157

Notes on Contributors 183