Includes bibliographical references (p. [191]-201) and index
The end(s) of myth : Apocalyptic and prophetic fictions in Headhunter -- Allegories of ruin and redemption : Michael Ondaatje's The English patient -- Margaret Atwood's "Hairball" : Apocalyptic cannibal fiction -- Mapping and dreaming : resisting Apocalypse in Green grass, running water -- Broken letters : Obasan as traumatic Apocalyptic testimony -- Conclusion : adrift after the Apocalypse
"Traditional apocalyptic narratives highlight the drama of a chosen elect. Contemporary Canadian fiction, however, typically portrays the apocalypse from the perspective of marginalized individuals barred from paradise, creating a distinctly anti-apocalyptic discourse. Rewriting Apocalypse in Canadian Fiction is the first book to explore the literary, psychological, political, and cultural repercussions of the apocalypse in the fiction of Timothy Findley, Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, Thomas King, and Joy Kogawa, Marlene Goldman traces the history of the apocalyptic literary tradition and its key motifs in close readings of these Canadian works, which challenge rather than embrace apocalypse's key features."--BOOK JACKET.
