The development of literature in Canada with an eye to its multicultural, multiethnic, multilingual nature.From modest colonial beginnings, literature in Canada has arrived at the center stage of world literature. Works by English-Canadian writers -- both established writers such as Margaret Atwood and new talents such as Yann Martel -- make regular appearances on international bestseller lists. French-Canadian literature has also found its own voice in the North American and francophone worlds. "CanLit" has likewise developed into a staple of academic interest, pursued in Canadian Studies programs in Canada and around the world. This volume draws on the expertise of scholars from Canada, Germany, Austria, and France, tracing Canadian literature from the indigenous oral tradition to thedevelopment of English-Canadian and French-Canadian literature since colonial times. Conceiving of Canada as a single but multifaceted culture, it accounts for specific characteristics of English- and French-Canadian literatures,such as the vital role of the short story in English Canada or that of the chanson in French Canada. Yet special attention is also paid to Aboriginal literature and to the pronounced transcultural, ethnically diverse character ofmuch contemporary Canadian literature, thus moving clearly beyond the traditions of the two founding nations. Contributors: Reingard M. Nischik, Eva Gruber, Iain M. Higgins, Guy Laflèche, Dorothee Scholl, Gwendolyn Davies, Tracy Ware, Fritz Peter Kirsch, Julia Breitbach, Lorraine York, Marta Dvorak, Jerry Wasserman, Ursula Mathis-Moser, Doris G. Eibl, Rolf Lohse, Sherrill Grace, Caroline Rosenthal, Martin Kuester, Nicholas Bradley, Anne Nothof, Georgiana Banita, Gilles Dupuis, and Andrea Oberhuber. Reingard M. Nischik is Professor of American Literature at the University of Constance, Germany.

Introduction: Writing a History of Literature in Canada - Reingard M. NischikAboriginal Oral Traditions - Eva GruberThe Whites Arrive: White Writing before Canada, 1000-1600 - Ian M. HigginsHistorical Background - Guy LaflècheLiterature on New France - Guy LaflècheColonial Literature in New France - Guy LaflècheHistorical Overview - Dorothee SchollEnglish-Canadian Colonial Literature - Gwendolyn DaviesFrench-Canadian Colonial Literature under the Union Jack - Dorothee SchollEnglish-Canadian Literature, 1867-1918: The Making of a Nation - Tracy WareFrench-Canadian Literature from National Soladarity to the École littéraire de Montréal - Fritz Peter KirschPolitics and Literature between Nationalism and Internationalism - Julia BreitbachEnglish-Canadian Poetry, 1920-1960 - Lorraine YorkThe English-Canadian Novel and the Displacement of the Romance - Marta DvorakThe Modernist English-Canadian Short Story - Reingard M. NischikEarly English-Canadian Theater and Drama - Jerry WassermanFrench Canada from the First World War to 1967: Historical Overview - Ursula Mathis-MoserFrench-Canadian Poetry up to the 1960s - Ursula Mathis-MoserThe French-Canadian Novel between Tradition and Modernism - Doris G. EiblThe French-Canadian Short Story - Doris G. EiblFrench-Canadian Drama from the 1930s to the Révolution tranquille - Dorothee SchollSocio-Political and Cultural Developments from 1967 to the Present - Sherrill GraceEnglish-Canadian Literary Theory and Literary Criticism - Caroline RosenthalThe English-Canadian Novel from Modernism to Postmodernism - Martin KuesterThe English-Canadian Short Story since 1967: Between (Post)Modernism and (Neo)Realism - Reingard M. NischikEnglish-Canadian Poetry from 1967 to the Present - Nicholas BradleyContemporary English-Canadian Drama and Theater - Anne NothofCanons of Diversity in Contemporary English-Canadian Literature - Georgiana BanitaLiterature of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis - Eva GruberThe Quebec Novel - Doris G. EiblThe French-Canadian Short Prose Narrative - Doris G. EiblFrench-Canadian Poetry from 1967 to the Present - Ursula Mathis-MoserOrality and the French-Canadian Chanson - Ursula Mathis-MoserDrama and Theater from the Révolution tranquille to the Present - Dorothee SchollTransculturalism and écritures migrantes - Gilles DupuisThe Institutionalization of Literature in Quebec - Andrea Oberhuber