Overview

In this study, Craig Walker offers a critical introduction to contemporary Canadian playwriting, providing a context for the study of Canadian drama and showing how it developed from Western European philosophical, literary, and dramatic traditions. Walker devotes the main body of his work to critical readings of James Reaney, Michael Cook, Sharon Pollock, Michel Tremblay, George F. Walker, and Judith Thompson, respecting the distinctive elements of the writer's voice while helping the reader appreciate the cultural context that informs each play. He analyses the poetics or mythological underpinning of the works and investigates the cultural significance of the tropes that typify their works.

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9780773520745

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Reviews

One of the most important books ever written on Canadian drama, containing some of the most perceptive and well-informed criticism anywhere on six of Canada's leading playwrights. Walker's ideas are thoughtful, stimulating, and engaging. Above all, The Buried Astrolabe significantly broadens the context for our understanding of Canadian drama. L.W. Conolly, Department of English, Trent University ----- The Buried Astrolabe is the most comprehensive, enlightening, and entertaining study of the subject which I have encountered. Walker's scholarship is exemplary, drawing on a wide range of writers and thinkers from European and North American tradition. Anne Nothof, Professor of English, Centre for Language and Literature, Athabasca University ----- Walker makes a solid contribution to the criticism of Canadian drama. Each of the six chapters offers independent analyses of its subject, with an emphasis on close readings, but the author has an overall thesis: Canadian playwrights have worked to adapt European traditions to express a Canadian mythopoeic vision ... He provides a very good bibliography and his notes are worth reading themselves. This fine book belongs in every library with good Canadian holdings. Choice

One of the most important books ever written on Canadian drama, containing some of the most perceptive and well-informed criticism anywhere on six of Canada's leading playwrights. Walker's ideas are thoughtful, stimulating, and engaging. Above all, The Buried Astrolabe significantly broadens the context for our understanding of Canadian drama. L.W. Conolly, Department of English, Trent University ----- The Buried Astrolabe is the most comprehensive, enlightening, and entertaining study of the subject which I have encountered. Walker's scholarship is exemplary, drawing on a wide range of writers and thinkers from European and North American tradition. Anne Nothof, Professor of English, Centre for Language and Literature, Athabasca University ----- Walker makes a solid contribution to the criticism of Canadian drama. Each of the six chapters offers independent analyses of its subject, with an emphasis on close readings, but the author has an overall thesis: Canadian playwrights have worked to adapt European traditions to express a Canadian mythopoeic vision ... He provides a very good bibliography and his notes are worth reading themselves. This fine book belongs in every library with good Canadian holdings. Choice

"""One of the most important books ever written on Canadian drama, containing some of the most perceptive and well-informed criticism anywhere on six of Canada's leading playwrights. Walker's ideas are thoughtful, stimulating, and engaging. Above all, The Buried Astrolabe significantly broadens the context for our understanding of Canadian drama."" L.W. Conolly, Department of English, Trent University ""The Buried Astrolabe is the most comprehensive, enlightening, and entertaining study of the subject which I have encountered. Walker's scholarship is exemplary, drawing on a wide range of writers and thinkers from European and North American tradition."" Anne Nothof, Professor of English, Centre for Language and Literature, Athabasca University"

One of the most important books ever written on Canadian drama, containing some of the most perceptive and well-informed criticism anywhere on six of Canada's leading playwrights. Walker's ideas are thoughtful, stimulating, and engaging. Above all, The Buried Astrolabe significantly broadens the context for our understanding of Canadian drama. L.W. Conolly, Department of English, Trent University The Buried Astrolabe is the most comprehensive, enlightening, and entertaining study of the subject which I have encountered. Walker's scholarship is exemplary, drawing on a wide range of writers and thinkers from European and North American tradition. Anne Nothof, Professor of English, Centre for Language and Literature, Athabasca University

One of the most important books ever written on Canadian drama, containing some of the most perceptive and well-informed criticism anywhere on six of Canada's leading playwrights. Walker's ideas are thoughtful, stimulating, and engaging. Above all, The Buried Astrolabe significantly broadens the context for our understanding of Canadian drama. L.W. Conolly, Department of English, Trent University The Buried Astrolabe is the most comprehensive, enlightening, and entertaining study of the subject which I have encountered. Walker's scholarship is exemplary, drawing on a wide range of writers and thinkers from European and North American tradition. Anne Nothof, Professor of English, Centre for Language and Literature, Athabasca University

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