In 419 by Will Ferguson, there are characteristics of a postmodern Canadian novel. The definition of a “Canadian novel” has changed through the literature movements. Creating moral order and controlling landscapes was used in the colonial period and then, in the confederation period that followed, there was emphasis on nationalism and defining what it was to be Canadian. Nationalism in literature was important because it was necessary for the survival of the country in order to prevent the culture from being overpowered. The novel 419 fits in the categories of literature that came after the confederation period. 419 by Will Ferguson belongs to the category of a traditional postmodern Canadian novel since the novel has elements of intertextuality
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The location in Vancouver which suggests Birney is creating literature within Canadian boarders. “Vancouver Lights” describes a world destroying itself and the theme of destruction is used modernist literature. Paradox phrases, such as “troubling delights” (11), comment on the poems subject. The attempt to find rational in the world, although everything is contradictory, is shown in the contrasting images of light and darkness. Humans are described as “unique glowworms” (25) against the images of darkness. Birney claims that “we made and unmade them” (33) to show humans have the power to create and destroy. Similarly, modernists believed technology could save or destroy the planet. Humans are described as “sparks beleaguered by darkness” (19-20) which reinforces how there were no beliefs in a heavenly plan, but rather the idea that human life is fleeting. Birney’s literature describes the chaotic existence of Canadian …show more content…
There are framing elements in the poem such as the image of the drowning framed in the photograph, and the speaker’s perceptions of the events that are framed in parenthesis. There is an emphasis on distortion of images and how recognizable things are. The house and trees in the poem are “smeared” or “blurred”. There is a sense of hope when the speaker says, “if you look long enough,/eventually/ you will be able to see me”(24-26). This hope is undercut since the speaker is dead so any possibility of clear vision of the drowning body is irrelevant. Postmodern literature often questions perception and has a bittersweet
The location in Vancouver which suggests Birney is creating literature within Canadian boarders. “Vancouver Lights” describes a world destroying itself and the theme of destruction is used modernist literature. Paradox phrases, such as “troubling delights” (11), comment on the poems subject. The attempt to find rational in the world, although everything is contradictory, is shown in the contrasting images of light and darkness. Humans are described as “unique glowworms” (25) against the images of darkness. Birney claims that “we made and unmade them” (33) to show humans have the power to create and destroy. Similarly, modernists believed technology could save or destroy the planet. Humans are described as “sparks beleaguered by darkness” (19-20) which reinforces how there were no beliefs in a heavenly plan, but rather the idea that human life is fleeting. Birney’s literature describes the chaotic existence of Canadian …show more content…
There are framing elements in the poem such as the image of the drowning framed in the photograph, and the speaker’s perceptions of the events that are framed in parenthesis. There is an emphasis on distortion of images and how recognizable things are. The house and trees in the poem are “smeared” or “blurred”. There is a sense of hope when the speaker says, “if you look long enough,/eventually/ you will be able to see me”(24-26). This hope is undercut since the speaker is dead so any possibility of clear vision of the drowning body is irrelevant. Postmodern literature often questions perception and has a bittersweet