Poetry and the Canadian Public Sphere: The Public Intellectual Engagement of Pauline Johnson, Dorothy Livesay, and Dionne Brand

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorEarly, Leonard R.
dc.creatorLancit, Shauna Yael
dc.date.accessioned2017-07-27T13:41:32Z
dc.date.available2017-07-27T13:41:32Z
dc.date.copyright2017-03-17
dc.date.issued2017-07-27
dc.date.updated2017-07-27T13:41:31Z
dc.degree.disciplineEnglish
dc.degree.levelDoctoral
dc.degree.namePhD - Doctor of Philosophy
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation examines the roles of Pauline Johnson, Dorothy Livesay, and Dionne Brand in the evolution of the public sphere in Canada, arguing that each of these writers has functioned as what we now call a public intellectual. Taking their careers as exemplary, I show that the Canadian context has been particularly conducive to the ability of women poets to fulfill this social function. In attending closely to the role of the public sphere in their poetry I offer a new lens through which to understand some of their significant poems. In situating these poets in their material and historical contexts I also offer an explanation of why Canadian women writers, and poets in particular, have been unexpectedly well situated to appear as public intellectuals. Beginning with a genealogy of the public intellectual, I show the significance of this figure in the Canadian context. I demonstrate that institutional responses to Canadas unique challenges in establishing and sustaining a public sphere have had wide-ranging effects on opportunities for artists and intellectuals to shape that sphere. These include the amplification of the voices of women poets relative to a purely market-based public sphere. I situate Johnson, Livesay, and Brand in their material and discursive contexts in order to make sense of the ways in which they figure the public sphere in their poetry, and the ways in which they use both their poetry and other forms of cultural production to encourage political and cultural change. Using an Arendtian view of the public, I argue that poetry has been an ideal site for building and maintaining a Canadian public sphere.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/33552
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subjectWomen's studies
dc.subject.keywordsPauline Johnson
dc.subject.keywordsDorothy Livesay
dc.subject.keywordsDionne Brand
dc.subject.keywordsCanadian Literature
dc.subject.keywordsPublic Intellectuals
dc.subject.keywordsMassey Commission
dc.subject.keywordsPublic Sphere
dc.subject.keywordsGovernment Funding for the Arts
dc.subject.keywordsCBC
dc.subject.keywordsCanadian Broadcasting Corporation
dc.subject.keywordsLiterary Prizes
dc.subject.keywordsWomen's Writing
dc.subject.keywordsPoetry
dc.titlePoetry and the Canadian Public Sphere: The Public Intellectual Engagement of Pauline Johnson, Dorothy Livesay, and Dionne Brand
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Lancit_Shauna_Y_2017_PhD.pdf
Size:
845.68 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.83 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
YorkU_ETDlicense.txt
Size:
3.38 KB
Format:
Plain Text
Description:
Download

Collections

English

All items in the YorkSpace institutional repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved except where explicitly noted.