Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA)

Canadian Literature and Culture Panel

Despite its prominence on the international stage and its proximity to the United States, Canada’s varied literary and cultural production is too often absent from – or minimized within – modern languages research and teaching in the U.S. Beyond the American context, Canada is frequently lumped in with the Commonwealth or la francophonie and, in this way, is subject to persistent cultural annexation. During his first official visit to Canada, President Biden remarked that “Americans and Canadians are two people, two countries […] sharing one heart. […] No two nations on Earth are bound by such close ties — friendship, family, commerce, and culture.” Canada’s numerous points of historical and contemporary literary, linguistic, and cultural contact with the U.S., North America, Europe, and the wider world have all factored into its current incarnation though it is in the process of grappling with the legacies of its colonial legacies.

This session will feature papers that explore aspects of modern and contemporary Canadian literatures, languages, histories, and cultures including but not limited to literature of any genre in English, French, and/or Indigenous languages; multimedia texts (film, television, music, radio); and works on Black Canadian and Caribbean Canadian authors and literatures. The session seeks to offer a nuanced vision of Canadian languages literatures and cultures. Submissions that engage with the 2024 PAMLA Conference Theme, “Translation in Action,” are particularly welcome.

To submit, please visit the PAMLA website.