![]() ![]() ![]() In addition to the “Newfoundland mystique” and “collective tragic muse” Gwyn claims these Newfoundlanders carry with them, there is also a paralyzing primitivism. ![]() The source that drives the green fuse through the flower.” In reaction to the emptying of the outports, the collapse of the fishery, the out-migration of thousands of Islanders, and an unstoppable push toward modernization, Gwyn ensures that the Newfoundland identity does not go gently during this time of change by creating and celebrating primeval Newfoundlanders rooted in the land and defined by loss. Hooper’s tired song of Newfoundland sounds a lot like the one Sandra Gwyn was singing in 1976 when the now defunct magazine Saturday Night published her watershed article, “The Newfoundland Renaissance.” Gwyn writes of “the miraculous and exciting revival of art and theatre on Canada’s poor, bald rock” and claims that this “Newfcult phenomenon” is fueled by failure: “the decline of the fishery, the decay of the old outport way of life, are the sources of inspiration and their sense of urgency. But I have been hearing these sad old tunes my whole life and I am just about ready to throw the accordion into the ocean. I do see the beauty in Emma Hooper’s Our Homesick Songs, I do. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |