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Jurgen Kleist and Shawn Huffman, eds. Canada Observed: Perspectives from Abroad and from Within.

Article Excerpt
New York: Peter Lang, 2000. 203 pages.

Perhaps the dominant characteristic of Canadians is that they are preoccupied with notions of identity. Now, as in the past, they spend much time and effort trying to determine who they are and what unites them beyond the fragile political agreements which hold this nation together. It is not at all surprising, then, that Canadianists abroad, in their attempts to better understand the country and its people, also focus on identity, how Canadians perceive themselves and how Canada and Canadians are viewed by others. These are the central themes of Canada Observed: Perspectives from Abroad and from Within, the seventh volume in the Plattsburgh Studies in the Humanities series. The conference and subsequent publication of proceedings were in part sponsored by the university's Centre for the Study of Canada and reflect the growing interest in Canadian Studies in some American universities. Edited by Jurgen Kleist and Shawn Huffman, respectively professors of German and French literature at Plattsburgh, Canada Observed brings together fifteen essays, by mostly Canadian and American scholars from a variety of fields, including political science, literature, history, and environmental studies.

As with many collections which originate in conferences, the articles in Canada Observed do not have a strong unifying thesis but most are connected through the theme of identity. Although loosely organized thematically, the essays can be grouped into four topics: Canada viewed front the outside, identities within, responding to external forces, and identity revealed through literature. The anthology opens with four articles on the images of Canada from abroad: from Germany, Ireland and the United States. This is the longest section--almost one-third of the entire book--and presents very different views of Canada.

Padraig O Gormaile's "Canada from the Out-Inside: The Irish Story" does not examine the image of Canada in Ireland so much as Irish influences in Canada which in turn shaped how the Irish see Canada. The proportionally high numbers of Irish immigrants in the 19th century--as late as 1901, the Irish comprised the third largest ethnic group in the country after the English and the French--and their political, religious and cultural influences throughout Canadian history as well as numerous similarities between Irish and Canadian experiences such as...

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