This study is a comprehensive overview of the literature produced in Canada during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Whereas previous examinations of this fertile literary period have been discussed in the context of larger, more abstract terms like "e;early Canadian literature"e; and "e;19th century Canadian literature,"e; this book offers a more narrowly focused examination of the kinds of literary shifts and transformations that occurred as British North America pivoted from its colonial beginnings to its new Confederation (and post-Confederation) reality. Focusing on the four main genres - non-fiction, drama, poetry, and prose fiction - this book draws together a rich corpus of notable works in order to illustrate the hybrid nature of the period's literature. It also seeks to demonstrate the many ways in which Victorian-Canadian writers engaged in trans-Atlantic and transnational literary experimentation.

This study is a comprehensive overview of the literature produced in Canada during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Whereas previous examinations of this fertile literary period have been discussed in the context of larger, more abstract terms like "e;early Canadian literature"e; and "e;19th century Canadian literature,"e; this book offers a more narrowly focused examination of the kinds of literary shifts and transformations that occurred as British North America pivoted from its colonial beginnings to its new Confederation (and post-Confederation) reality. Focusing on the four main genres - non-fiction, drama, poetry, and prose fiction - this book draws together a rich corpus of notable works in order to illustrate the hybrid nature of the period's literature. It also seeks to demonstrate the many ways in which Victorian-Canadian writers engaged in trans-Atlantic and transnational literary experimentation.