Open Collections

The short story in Canada : development from 1935 to 1955 with attached bibliography

University of British Columbia

This thesis concerns the development of the short story in Canada from 1935 to 1955. The political, social and economic background has been briefly surveyed and related to the developments in the story in character, subjects, theme, and form. Each of the chapters deals with one of the four periods into which this development may be divided. In each chapter collections, anthologies, and stories from periodicals have been discussed. Chapter I, 1935 - 1940, studies the transition which was taking place in the depression period as the story shifted from man in conflict with nature to man in society. Chapter II, 1946 – 1950, reveals that, in the war years, the story was often concerned with social protest, although there was some opposition to this type. Little magazines became an important influence in this period. Chapter III, 1946 - 1950, shows that in the post-war period, the writers often built their stories around a psychological or psychoanalytic insight into characters. Chapter IV, 1950 - 1955, saw a lull in story writing; however, in those which were written, a greater complexity in character and a centering on ideas was present. What is evident in each period is a growing maturity, which is reflected in the types of characters presented, the subjects and themes which they reveal, and the form through which they are presented. In connection with the general development of the story, each chapter has noted also the availability of places for publication within Canada, general Canadian qualities, and regional influences. It has been found that, although the story development was conservative, the authors did usually deal with contemporary Canadian situations and problems. The study concludes with a bibliography. This was compiled because of a lack of Information on the short story in Canada. No separate listing of the collections and anthologies published during this period exists. The only listings of stories in the periodicals are those to be found in the Canadian Periodical Index, which are arranged by author and title. For convenience in the study of development, this list has been compiled chronologically. Sections I and II list respectively the collections and anthologies published by Canadian writers from 1935 to 1955. Section III is a list of the stories published in certain Canadian periodicals. Only those authors who published 5 or more stories in the periodicals examined are included. Section IV is a list of Canadian Periodicals publishing short stories during these years. Section V Is a list of references used in preparing this thesis. This bibliography is useful in determining the relative importance of the periodicals which have contained stories, in comparing the number of stories in each period, and in tracing the activity of the authors.

Text

2011-06-27

For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/35769

English

University of British Columbia

Graduate