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Quote by Northrop Frye

“It seems to me that Canadian sensibility has been profoundly disturbed, not so much by our famous problem of identity, important as that is, as by a series of paradoxes in what confronts that identity. It is less perplexed by the question "Who am I?" than by some such riddle as "Where is here?”

Quote by Northrop Frye

Work

Northrop Frye on Canada

This book delves into the works of Northrop Frye, analyzing his perspectives on Canadian literature and culture. Frye's insights provide a critical examination of the nation's literary heritage and its influence on Canadian identity. more

Author

Northrop Frye
Northrop Frye

Northrop Frye was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, renowned for his extensive work on the Bible, mythology, and the literary imagination. His theories have had a significant impact on the field of literary criticism and have influenced many scholars and critics. more

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“What a lost person needs is a map of the territory, with his own position marked on it so he can see where he is in relation to everything else. Literature is not only a mirror; it is also a map, a geography of the mind. Our literature is one such map, if we can learn to read it as our literature, as the product of who and where we have been. We need such a map desperately, we need to know about here, because here is where we live. For the members of a country or a culture, shared knowledge of their place, their here, is not a luxury but a necessity. Without that knowledge we will not survive.”

“Because subjects like literature and art history have no obvious material pay-off, they tend to attract those who look askance at capitalist notions of utility. The idea of doing something purely for the delight of it has always rattled the grey-bearded guardians of the state. Sheer pointlessness has always been a deeply subversive affair.”