PatrickMcEvoy-Halston

English452lQ0l
DougBeardsleY
19August2003

. Haven
FreeingAl Purdy: FromNationalistCell to Postmodern
6 o.
o./] {h*O Silverberg,in '"TheCan(adi)onization
of Al Purdy,"arguesthatPurdywasusedby a

industry"(227)to helpestablishboth a Canadiancanonanda quintessential

dfff"rary-cultural
Y Canadianidentity. Accordingto Silverberg,in theirquestto createa particularPurdy

"native"(228),,
personae-thatbeing,a backwoods, un-American, man-critics
working-class

in the SeSa"d
andanthologists ,d'(and beyond)provideda very limited senseof the manto

and
thereadingpublic. He thinksPurdyis actuallyfar more"paradoxical,"problematical,
V,' (231)thanwe havebeenleadto expect.Purdy,apparently,wasnot only more
yrt_$$"Ohisticared"
interestingbut more postmodernthan we have been lead to expect,too, and Silverberg off-ersus
t'bb
.f
textualanalysesof selectpoemsin part to suggestjust how awarePurdy was of the socially

y' constructednatureof genderandof the instability of language.He thereforeattemptsnot only to

worthyof
recoverqualities"at theheartof Purdy'swork" (245)but to establishPurdyassomeone

postmodern
sophisticated attentions.

Silverbergagreeswith RobertIrcker in thinking that during "the decadefrom 1965to

with defininga Canadianidentitytranslatedinto a [. . .]

lg75- (226),"thenationalpreoccupation

literary-criticalindustrywhosepurposewasto find or createimagesof thatidentitf' (227)' Pvdy'

verse[. . .] [,] wasdeemedtheperfect

of his "rural,historicallyminded,documentaryJike
because

candidatefor canonicity" (232). llts work wasthereforewidely critiqued and anthologized,but

asprimarilyinterestedin
wantedhim to be understood
selectivelyso: sinceanthologists/critics

narratives,andin
in "garrison/survival"
crafting"sketches"of "suitablynativelandscape[s],

(230),only poemswhichbestdeveloped
/. maintainingthe "continuityof thepresentandthepast"
\a"- ,,, upon.
jdpt',tr"r" subjectsandthemeswerewidely circulatedandcommented
;r,.
Silverberg believes that the anthologists/critics desire to "pigeon-hole" Purdy as an
 (.2\.-\.*J
"authentic[. . .] Canadian"(230) hasmeantthat we havebeenoffered a very skewedandJi{aitetL

andmimetic,"
poemsareinvariablydocumentary
senseof thepoet. Becausethe "anthologized

andmoretechnically
Purdy's"fine experimental
Silverbergarguesthatwe rarelyencounter

d self-conscious did not wantto complicatehis statusas

poems"(230). Becauseanthologists/critics

in, his nativehabitat,we rarelyencounter

a rural Canadianprimarilyinvolvedwith, andinterested

his poemsabout"CubaandGreece"(241),or her abouthis travelsabroad.Because

his poemsdedicated
wantedto link him to his Canadianpoeticpredecessors,
anthologists/critics

)1fto D.H. Lawrence,DylanThomas,EzraPound,[. . .] [etc.,]haveconsistentlybeenpassedoverin

(23r).rnshort, havebeenleft
thatreaders
of moreparochial
subjects" perbere believes
Sff*i
andcosmopolitanism.
largelyunawareof thefull extentof Purdy'ssophistication
&\
\ \
Silverberg'sinterestin theeffectsof nationalistideologyon the circulationof Purdy's

poetry suggeststhe influenceof New Historicist analysison his thought. The influenceof other

critical approachesupon his criticism is apparentin his "recovery" of the complex natureof a

commonly anthologrzedpoem, "Song of the Impermanent,"and in his analysisof a largely

unanthologizedpoem, "On RealizingHe Has Written SomeBad Poems." The "Song of the

Impermanent,"accordingto Silverberg,is often badly misreadby critics eagerto shapePurdy into

a "rugged,masculine,working-classCanadian"(233). Silverbergdoesa feminist analysisof the

poem;exploresthe "speaker'sblatantmisogyny" (236); and decidesthat the poem is best

understoodas a sophisticated"satire" which "enactscertainsocialconstructionsof masculinity"

(237). He alsodoesan analysisof "On Realizing" in which he likens Purdy to the still fashionable

critic, Fredric Jameson.Silverbergconcludeshis analysisof this poem by assertingthat Purdy,

like an alert studentof deconstruction,was well awareof how "languagewill alwayshaveits way

over us" (246).

Anyone hoping that Purdy's poetry will find an audienceamongstacademicswould likely

 J

bepleasedwith Silverberg'sefforts. Purdy,formerlythe "self-made,backwoodspoet' (233)-an

not of nationalistliterary
sortin thesedaysof thehegemonicsupremacy,
entirelydisrespectable

literaryschools-is madeto seemasif he sharestheconcems

critics,but of scientific,specialized

andperspectives acadernia.Silverbergbelieveshe realizesa more"accurate"

of contemporary

establishes
(239)portrayalof Purdyin his essay,but sincethis effort so cleanly,so suspiciously,

we leavehis essayremindedthatour own readingof Purdy'spoetryshould

Purdy'smodishness,

of the manandhis work.

inform our criticalassessment
predominately

Silverbergalsoleavesus uncertainasto how well he helpsus movebeyond"the searchfor

a singularCanadianidentity" (247),asto someextenthis analysisof Purdy'spoetryservesto

updateratherthanloosenthe conceptionof Purdyasa writer of "quintessentialCanadianpoet[ry]"

critics(suchasDennisIre) who insiston characterizing

(243). Silverbergrepeatedlycastigates

of Purdy'sencounter
Purdyasa writer of "survival"(241)poetry,yet his own characterization

{a",f*lrh andhardinessin the faceof obstacles.

languageamountsto a storyof Purdy'spersistence

Silverbergtellsus thatPurdywasawareof how "our smallintentionswill be subsumed

in

flanguage's][. . .] broaderoutlines"(246),but insiststhatinsteadof beingbrokenby the

of language't. . .l t,l tPurdylrealize[d][. . .] thatlanguage'striumph[was] [. . ']

"'prison-house

while Silverbergbelievesthatwe should"recognizethe

alsohis own" (246). Furthermore,

extrememutability andflexibility of identity" (246),and while he doesdraw attentionto Denis

(andseemingly
Ire's studyof Purdy's"pollphony" (U7), he still endshis essaycharacterizing

(247).
Purdyasa manawareof his own "bumbling[. . .] failuresandtreacheries"
sumrnarizing)

of Purdycloselyechoesthatof othercriticssuchasRosemarySullivan(who
This assessment

such
gaze"wasof "ironic-deflation"[143]) andanthologists
believesthatPurdy's"quintessential

asGaryGeddes(whobelievesthatPurdy's"self-mockery"[66] elevateshis bestwork).

Silverberg,then,might make Purdy seemmore modishthan modern,but he maintainsPurdy's

personaasthe self-effacingsurvivor--thatis, asthe quintessential
Canadian.

(750 words)

Works Cited

Geddes,Garyed. 15 CanadianPoetsx 3. Toronto: OxfordUP, 2001.

of Al Purdy." Essayson CanadianWriting 70 (2000)

Silverberg,Mark. "The Can(adi)onization

: 226-51.

on CanadianWriting49 (1993): 142-46.

Sullivan,Rosemary."Purdy'sDark Cowboy." Essays

,tr
2"'o'
go