We have to decide where we will find our ‘home place’.
Circumstance gives us the choice between urban Halifax and rural Paradise. From the perspective of health services, the decision would tip towards the city.
At the Carrefour Atlantique Emporium, Privateers Wharf, I chanced upon Gwendolyn Davies, “Studies in Maritime Literary History, 1760-1930“.
While I was interested in the early literature, it was not sufficient for a purchase. Instead, I went off to the Halifax Central Library. They did indeed have a copy, but it was in the closed stacks.
On request, I was able to read the book in the library. Of particular interest was the final chapter, the ‘Home Place’ in Modern Maritime Literature. Davies references David Adams Richards, George Elliott Clarke, Harry Bruce, Alistair MacLeod and Douglas Lochhead,
”0ne may want to argue that ‘place’ is a central image in any country’s literature. …..But the emergence of the image in Maritime literature in the 1920’s, it would seem, has its genesis in the social, economic and cultural realities on the east coast that distinguish it from similar images in other areas of Canada”, p193
Of particular interest was the theme of the economy and the landscape. The impact of different industries on the rural economy (e.g. Britex in Bridgetown or Stanfields in Windsor). As we move forward, what are the new employment opportunities. Does the lack of health services impact the movement into the rural areas? Or is that impact, largely on the elders.
What would be informative, would be a second volume, Studies in Maritime Literary History 1930 – 2030 It would address the changes in society, in terms of its economic and social geography, as reflected in current literature and poetry. One example, would be Sandra Barry on Elizabeth Bishop. Or, the role of the Gaspereau Press in supporting local authors and poets.
Another dimension would be the role of educational institutions in our understanding of landscape, mapping and planning our economic geography — all within the context of government, politics and sustainable development.
References
Gwendolyn Davies, 1991, Studies in Maritime Literary History, 1760-1930, Acadiensis Press
Sandra Barry, Peter Sanger, Gwendolyn Davies, 2001, Divisions of the Heart: Elizabeth Bishop and the Art of Memory and Place, Gaspereau Press.
Ernest Blair Experiment 