I. Hugh MacLennan and Man Should Rejoice

x Man Should Rejoice and is overwhelmed by socio-political forces beyond his control.If the novel is at times remarkably precise and specific-the final sections that take place during the Austrian Civil War, for example, are meticulously grounded in historical references and details-its protagonist's experiences are often, paradoxically, universal.Through a sustained focus on a single consciousness, MacLennan explores some of the weightiest themes and concerns of one of the most turbulent and uncertain periods of modern times.In this sense, Man Should Rejoice is arguably the most ambitious-if not the most successful-Canadian novel of its period.Despite their pivotal importance in the cultural and political development of Canada, the 1930s were still scandalously underrepresented in the national literature when the University of Ottawa Press published its first critical edition as part of its Canadian Literature Collection in 2007.Likely, much of this had to do with the extreme economic challenges that faced writers and publishers during the Depression, as well as a general disinterest of later critics and publishers in revisiting a time that many would prefer to forget.Since 2007, many new editions of lost and forgotten Canadian works of the 1930s have been published, including Charles Yale Harrison's Meet Me on the Barricades, Ted Allan's This Time a Better Earth, Robert J. C. Stead's Dry Water, Irene Baird's Waste Heritage, and Malcolm Lowry's In Ballast to the White Sea.Man Should Rejoice contributes to this reawakening of interest in the 1930s, and, like many other novels of its time written in Canada and beyond, depicts modern individuals negotiating large historical forces that deterministically shape their lives.It plunges into violent ideological clashes and labour struggles and depicts the horrors of armed conflict and its impacts on the lives of ordinary people.MacLennan's novel also explores societal transformations that come about because of industrialization, the decline of traditional religious structures, increasing globalization, evolving gender roles, and the transformation of daily lives by dehumanizing technologies.All of this amounts to a dramatic and expansive novel that serves as an essential document of its time.Like many better-known novels of its period from Canada and abroad, Man Should Rejoice exploits the dramatic potential inherent in the economic and social problems that arose in much of the world following the infamous Wall Street Crash of 1929.The decade that ensued was characterized in the United States-home to the young David Culver and his wealthy, industrialist father-by extremely high unemployment rates, battles between industrial employers and labour unions, ideological division and conflict, widespread poverty, and a general loss of faith by many in existing political and economic institutions.That Man Should Rejoice, begun by MacLennan in 1934, should engage these ubiquitous

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.