Early Colonial Periodicals in Nineteenth-Century Canada

This piece examines the crucial role that periodical culture played in fashioning nineteenth-century Canadian identities as they emerged and developed over the course of the century. It focuses on the Montreal-based Literary Garland (1831–1851), edited by the Irish emigrant James Lovell, as one of the leading examples of periodicals that influenced notions of Anglophone ‘Canadian’ identity. It then moves on to argue that the inclusion of content such as Susannah Moodie’s initial sketches for Roughing it in the Bush in the Garland can be understood to be the beginnings of an interest in tales of local colour. The chapter situates the Literary Garland alongside its other predecessors and successors, such as the Scribbler (1821–27), and the British Colonist (1858–1910), examining the ways in which these periodicals shaped and defined notions of middle-class Canadian readerships. Thus, in tracing a long genealogy of Canadian periodicals over the course of the nineteenth century, while focussing on the Literary Garland , this piece demonstrates the importance of the periodical marketplace in driving its authors and audiences to engage with the question of what constituted ‘Canadian’ identities and ‘Canadian’ content.

Archaeology · Art · Art history · Colonialism · Context (archaeology) · Literature · Canadian Identity and History · Historical and Literary Analyses · Historical and Literary Studies · History