Historical Studies 521 University of Calgary Dr. D. Marshall Department of History Office No. SS 638 Winter 2009 Tel No.: 220-3837 e-mail: marshall@ucalgary.ca Canadian Biography THE COURSE The purpose of this course is to explore the role of biography in the writing of Canadian history. In particular, we will investigate the merits and drawbacks of the biographical approach to history. We will also look at the different trends in Canadian biographical writing. COURSE REQUIREMENTS Seminar Participation..15% Seminar Presentation & Paper.25% Research Paper Proposal.10% Due: Mon March 2, 2009 Research Paper 50% Due: Last Day of Classes, April 17, 2009 Seminar Participation is an integral component of the course. Students will be assessed on the quantity and quality of their weekly participation. The seminar presentation must be based on a biography selected from the course bibliography (available on the course blackboard site). Students are required to review the biography in class, paying particular attention to how the biographer depicts his subject. Questions that might frame you presentation include: Why was the biography chosen? Why was the life significant? How did the biographer deal with the public and personal life? How did the biographer convey personality? Did you feel that you got to know the subject of the biography? How does the biography contribute to understanding the past? Does the biography change or make a substantial contribution to historiography? The presentations should be designed to promote discussion afterwards. A 3-5 page seminar paper based on the presentation MUST be submitted by the following seminar. Students have the week to incorporate any suggestions or critiques that emerge from the class discussion.
The research papers should be 15-20 typed double-spaced pages, including footnotes or endnotes. They must conform to the Department of History Guide with respect to format, notes and bibliography They can take the form of either: A) a biography. Students can select a historical figure and write a brief life sketch assessing their subject s contributions to Canadian life and/or how that life sheds light on a particular period in Canadian history along the lines of the biographies the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Alternatively students can write a biographical sketch of someone they know- i.e. a grandparent- in cases where personal papers letters diaries etc.- exist. Some of the biographical sketches in Great Dames will give students an appreciation of how this can be achieved. OR B) a historiographical assessment of biography. For example, students can assess the biographical literature on a controversial historic figure, such as Louis Riel, William Lyon Mackenzie King, William Aberhart, J.S. Woodsworth, Emily Carr or Nellie McClung. Students can also write a paper on how biographical literature has enhanced or detracted from our understanding of a crucial era in Canadian history, such as the Confederation era (1864-1867), or World War I. No Matter Which Option Is Selected All Students Must Consult With The Instructor About Their Research Paper Topics and Submit a Research Paper Proposal The research paper proposals are crucial to writing a successful research paper. They should contain the following: -indication of the topic -definition of primary research question(s) with a rationale of its historical importance or historiographical significance -outline of hypothesis and any major supporting arguments -discussion of the major primary and secondary sources that will form the foundation of the paper -a one page bibliography
SEMINAR READINGS N.B. All readings for weeks 1-4 are posted on the course Blackboard site. The readings for weeks 5-9, with the exception of week 8, are available in the textbook store. Great dames can be downloaded from the University of Calgary on-line catalogue through e-brary. Week 1: Biography Wars -Rollyson, Carl, Samuel Johnson: Dean of Contemporary Biographers, Biography, Vol. 24, No.2, Spring 2001 -Fish, Stanley, Just Published: Minutiae Without Meaning: a critique of biography and Biographical narrative, New York Times, Sept. 7, 1999 -Leckie, Shirley, Biography Matters: Why Historians Need Well-Crafted Biographies More than Ever -Lepore, Jill, Historians Who Love Too Much: Reflections on Micro-history and Biography, Journal of American History, Vol. 88, No.1, June 2001. Week 2: Biography as Literature -Backscheider, Paula, Reflections on Biography (Oxford University Press, 1999) selected chapters. Holmes, Richard, The Proper Study?, in France, Peter & William St. Clair, eds., Mapping Lives: the Uses of Biography (2002) Weekes, Mark, Writing Lives Forwards: A Case for Strictly Chronological Biography, in Mapping Lives Seymour, Miranda, Shaping the Truth, in Mapping Lives Ferres, Kay, Gender, Biography and the Public Sphere, in Mapping Lives Walter, James, The Solace of Doubt?: Biographical Methodology and the Short Twentieth Century, in Mapping Lives Confessions of Biographers -Skidelsky, Robert (biographer of John Maynard Keynes) Only Connect Biography and Truth, in Homberger, Eric & John Charmley, eds., The Troubled Face of Biography -Thwaite, Ann, (biographer of Edmund Gosse) Writing Lives, in Troubled Face of Biography -Glendinning, Victoria, (biographer of Lies and Silences, in Troubled Face of Biography -Blake, Robert, (biographer of Benjamin Disraeli) The Art of Biography in Troubled Face of Biography
-Holroyd, Michael, (biographer of George Bernard Shaw & Charles Dickens) How I fell Into Biography, in Troubled Face of Biography Week 3: Psycho-Biography -Runyan, William McKinley, Why Did Van Gogh Cut Off His Ear?: The Problem of Alternative Explanation in Psychobiography, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 40, No. 6, 1981 -Flanagan, Thomas, Problems in PsychoBiography, Queen s Quarterly, Vol.89, No.3, 1982 -Kennitson, Kenneth, Psychological Development and Historical Change, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol.2, No.2, Autumn 1971 -Strout, Cushing, The Uses and Abuses of Psychology in American History, American Quarterly, Vol.28, No.3, 1976 -Anderson, James, The Methodology of Psychological Biography, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol.11, No.3, Winter 1981 -Shore, Miles, A Psychoanalytical Perspective, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol.12, No.1, Summer 1981 -Kohut, Thomas, Psychohistory as History, American Historical Review, Vol.91, No.2, April 1986 Week 4: Biographical Writing in Canada -Brown, R.C. Biography in Canadian History, Canadian Historical Association, Historical Papers, 1980 -Lanning, Robert, Portraits of Progress: Men, Women and the Selective Tradition in Collective Biography, Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol.30, No.3, Fall, 1995 -Nadel, Ira, Canadian Biography and Literary Form, Essays on Canadian Writing, No. 33, Fall, 1986 -Waite, P.B. Invading Privacies: Biography as History, Dalhousie Review, Vol.69, No.4, Winter, 89/90 -Carr, Graham, Dated Lives: English Canadian Literary Biography, Essays on Canadian Writing, No.35, Winter, 1987 -Martin, Ged, Archival Evidence and John A. Macdonald Biography, Journal of Historical Biography, Vol. 1 -Wright, Donald, Reflections on Donald Creighton and the Appeal of Biography, Journal of Historical Biography, Vol. 1 -Dewar, Kenneth, Where to Open and How: Narrative Openings in Donald Creighton s Historiography, Canadian Historical Review, Sept. 1991 Week 5: Political Biography & The Dictionary of Canadian Biography Reading: Canada s Prime Ministers Macdonald to Trudeau: Portraits from the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Week 6: The Triumph of the Private Reading: C.P. Stacey, A Very Double Life: The Private World of Mackenzie King
Week 7: Biography and Social History Reading: Charlotte Gray, Sisters of the Wilderness: The Lives of Susanna Moodie and Catherine Parr Traill Week 8: Feminist Biography Cameron, Elspeth & Janice Dickin, eds., Great Dames Week 9: Extraordinary Canadians -Wiebe, Rudy, Big Bear *Students may alternate this volume from the Extraordinary Canadians Series with any other volume from the series. Published to date: Richards, David Adams, Beaverbrook; Cohen, Andrew, Lester Pearson; Gray, Charlotte, Nellie McClung; and DeSoto, Lewis, Emily Carr -Owram, D. The Myth of Louis Riel, Canadian Historical Review, Vol.63, 1982 Weeks 10-13: Presentations