The Influence Of Literature In Canadian Literature

Literature reflects life‟ - this was true in the sense that a poet or writer, in composing a literary work, was very often inspired and influenced by some of his/ her own experiences and social surroundings. Literature was a term used to describe written or spoken material. The term was most commonly used to refer to words of the creative imagination including works of Poetry, drama, fiction and non-fiction. Literature was one of the fine arts like music and painting. It was, fundamentals, an expression of life through the medium of language. Literature was composed of books which were of great human interest due to their subject matter and mode of presentation. A proper study of literature involves the study of its history, the biography of the author and the ethos of the age and society in which it was produced. Thus literature becomes a study of history. Literature gives an insight into their mental spiritual and moral condition.

Generally Canadian literature was sociologically oriented while Canadian literature like the literature of every nation state was influenced by its socio-political contexts; Canadian writers have produced a variety of genres. Influences on Canadian writers are broad, both geographically and historically. The country’s literature has been strongly influenced by international immigration, particularly in recent decades. In the past critics thought that Canada’s literature, whether written in English or French, often reflected the Canadian perspective on nature, frontier life and Canada’s position in the world, all three of which toe into garrison mentality. The garrison mentality was a common theme in Canadian literature and Canadian cinema in both English Canada and French Canada. In texts with the garrison mentality characters are always looking out words and building metaphorical walls against the outside