Blackening Canada

"Blackening Canada offers terrific and original readings of Dionne Brand, Austin Clarke, and Tessa McWatt. Written with clarity and concision, it takes up the question of multiculturalism through a series of accomplished analyses of black Canadian writing." -- Lily Cho, Department of English, York University "This book is a well-written, engaging, and intelligent examination of recent writing in Canada by black writers who concern themselves with questions of diaspora and multiculturalism." -- Kit Dobson, Department of English, Mount Royal University

Focusing on the work of black, diasporic writers in Canada, Blackening Canada investigates the manner in which literature can transform conceptions of nation and diaspora.

Focusing on the work of black, diasporic writers in Canada, particularly Dionne Brand, Austin Clarke, and Tessa McWatt, Blackening Canada investigates the manner in which literature can transform conceptions of nation and diaspora. Through a consideration of literary representation, public discourse, and the language of political protest, Paul Barrett argues that Canadian multiculturalism uniquely enables black diasporic writers to transform national literature and identity. These writers seize upon the ambiguities and tensions within Canadian discourses of nation to rewrite the nation from a black, diasporic perspective, converting exclusion from the national discourse into the impetus for their creative endeavours.

Within this context, Barrett suggests, debates over who counts as Canadian, the limits of tolerance, and the breaking points of Canadian multiculturalism serve not as signs of multiculturalism’s failure but as proof of both its vitality and of the unique challenges that black writing in Canada poses to multicultural politics and the nation itself.