Seth and Chester Brown as Late-Born Nationalists


by

Tuesday, August 17, 2010


This might only be of interest to Canadians and a few Canuck-ophiles but here goes: Canadian nationalism ebbs and flows but the most recent high tide was from 1967, when Canada celebrated its centennial year as a confederation, to the late 1970s. This was a golden age of nationalist cultural fervor, the period where presses such as Coach House books and the House of Anansi made their mark, when writers such as Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro gained their fame. Not every writer was a nationalist during this period, certainly Munro wasn’t. But many others were: think of the Atwood of Survival and Surfacing, a novelist and critic very interesting in exploring the geography and mythology of her native land.

Since the early 1980s, the dominate spirit in Canadian literature has been post-nationalist: many young writers see Canadian nationalism as stodgy, stolid and backward looking. These writers don’t look to Canadian history for stories but are openly internationalist. A good example would be the well-regard Camilla Gibb, who lives in Toronto but has written novels about Ethiopia and Vietnam. Or the excellent Steven Heighton, who often writes about Asia.

There is a passage in Russell  Smith’s 1998 novel Noise which expresses this post-nationalist mood:

“It used to be that you could get a lot of recognition by writing about Canada, as long as it was about small towns and nature.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You could have canoes and the prairies or, also, sad women, very sad women who were fat or whose husbands had left them or something. There was a lady who wrote about fucking a bear, which was like a union with the land. There was a lady who wrote about mystical experiences she had at a cottage in northern Ontario. I was never sure what that was about. They were very important at one time, very stern and important. I had to study them in school. Anyway, [Ludwig Boben] was one of them. He concentrated on the prairies. He wrote a lot of books about the prairies, with a lot of native names, and wise native people, like there’s  a young boy with an Ojibway grandmother who will teach him the ways of the forest, sort of thing, and there’s a lot of history, like a lot of the Riel rebellion for example.”

“The what?”

“History. And there’s a lot of disaster, on the prairies, like people having to rebuild their sod house after floods and so on.”

For our purposes, what is noteworthy is that comics don’t fall into the periodization seen in literature. The sort of nationalist themes that Smith’s characters were dismissing as dated in 1998 – small towns, historical figures such as Riel – are in fact a major concern to the best Canadian cartoonists: Seth’s whole body of work, indeed, revolves around such topics, as do the most popular works of Chester Brown and David Collier (who did a fine biographical portrayal of Grey Owl, another Canadian icon).

Many Canadian cartoonists seem to be late-born nationalists. Why is this? It might simply be an offshoot of the fact that Canadian comics were themselves late in developing, with Vortex, Drawn and Quarterly and other firms only gaining a foothold in the 1980s and 1990s. Perhaps also in a hinterland country like Canada, an art form has to go through a nationalist phase, using up the available historical themes, before it can move into post-nationalism. The nostalgic imperative felt by Seth and others might also be a factor: Seth grew up during the nationalist heyday of 1967, so in doing nationalist art he is returning to his childhood in the same way he does when he looks to Jack Kirby or John Stanley for inspiration.

This is a complicated topic, one which I hope to return to. One nuance worth noting is that Chester Brown is not a pure nationalist, since his libertarian politics are, to some degree, at odds with any attempt to glorify the national past (which explains, in part, the distancing effect he aimed for in Louis Riel). Still, while Brown might distrust the nation-state, Louis Riel does give evidence of Brown’s deep engagement with Canadian history. And of course the nationalist theme in Seth’s work comes with a healthy measure of irony and puckish humour (as do all his engagements with a nostalgic themes).

It’ll be interesting to see how long the nationalist phase lasts in Canadian comics. When I look at some younger artists, I already see post-nationalist stirrings but I’m not sure if that is a good thing or not. While post-nationalism promises freedom, it also involves a kind of historical amnesia that I’m uncomfortable with.

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27 Responses to “Seth and Chester Brown as Late-Born Nationalists”
  1. inkstuds says:

    Ack, nationalism in Canada is a bit of a mess. As a younger person, what I identify with Canadian identity is very different from what Chester and Seth would have grown up with. Chester, Seth and Collier all represent a certain Canadian grouping of age, and location. This kind of ignores anything west of Manitoba and east of Ontario.

    I guess i am just having a tough time with this, because it really limits the idea of Canadian Nationalism in comics, to a group of people, that doesn’t represent the broader identity.

    Maybe when including the work of Doucet and how that responds to being Quebecois or someone like Rand Holmes and how emblematic he is of the west coast experience.

  2. Jeet Heer says:

    @inkstuds. Point taken. The nationalism I’m talking about is heavily central Canadian (if not upper Canadian). Collier is a partial exception, especially his Saskatoon toons. I’d also add Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas’ Red: A Haida Manga as an example of a work that engages with the history/culture of the Pacific Northwest.

  3. Uland says:

    Also, I think you have to take into account how both Seth and Chester didn’t have the University Humanities experience, which, since the 80s ( late 80s? ) have really pushed a generic “global” values system.
    As a citizen of the US, I can say that the Canadian Nationalism of Seth is far more interesting than the “global” Canadian, who seems like a slightly better mannered Vermonter.

  4. david t says:

    oh. you mean anglo-canadian nationalism.

  5. David Hains says:

    First off, I think it’s problematic identifying comic trends in Canadian nationalism when there’s relatively few creators to draw these themes from. With that said, I agree that the impulse to create works in the traditional Canadian sense leans to the older generation, but it’s not their domain exclusively- Jeff Lemire’s Essex County is as traditionally Canadian as anything out there.

    I think the proclivity of the likes of Seth, Brown and Collier to codify Canadiana in comics connects to a previous idea you’ve written about Jeet. That is, the idea that comics have historically had tenuous links to the past (perhaps by-products of a medium that produced ephemeral print objects and has the absent father as a key archetype) and that creators had to re-construct their own history. By using the Canadian nationalism of a bygone era, the likes of Seth, Brown and Collier are able to use a time and place that is at once familiar to readers and open enough (Canadian nationalism is a pretty vague term) to re-construct history in their own image.

    I’m sure Seth’s devotion to constructing Dominion (both in his basement and on paper) could dovetail nicely into this.

  6. BVS says:

    I’ve heard allot said about Chester Brown’s supposed bizarre politics. but I’m someone who’s only read his actual comics, I’ve never bothered to read any published letters between him and Dave Sim or comics journal interviews or anything like that.
    so I don’t really see it. and it’s puzzling to me that I rarely see anything written about him without mentioning his politics when I’ve never really seen those apparently shocking right wing political sentiments show up in his work. why’s it such a big deal?

  7. Tom Devlin says:

    David, You should add to the conversation rather than complaining about being excluded (unless you mean for the complaining about exclusion to be the Franco-Canadian identity.) Just saying.

    It certainly is a topic worth addressing and I’m pretty sure Jeet has long acknowledged his ignorance when it comes to French part of Canada.

    Since moving to Quebec seven years ago, I’ve learned to understand Julie Doucet’s comics in a completely different light. They seem very Quebecois to me, something I obviously never recognized when I initially read those comics twenty years ago while living in Boston. Of course, this is based on my limited knowledge of the Quebec scene. And as a non-French reader. I think anyone Canadian would love to hear what you have to say.

    Tom

    • david t says:

      tom, i’m not complaining & i don’t feel excluded, i’m just noticing that the adjective “canadian”, as often happens in this great country, is taken to mean just one subset (albeit a large one) of what the whole of canadian “culture” is.

      a bit like when people say “american” to mean just the US, you know?

      i obviously see no problem in discussing anglo-canadian identity & “nationalism” (though i find this latter word to be a tad too loaded with ugly history for my personal taste). in fact, i find the topic genuinely interesting, & had i more time to take part in internet discussions (which i don’t), i would probably contribute my two cents.

      and lest i am being misread, i’m not saying that there is no way to make broad statements about canada, be it anglophone, francophone or aboriginal (wait, shouldn’t that be the other way around?). but if you’re specifically refering to “canadian nationalism”, then you’re in for a surprise because this is quite a fragmented country, identity-wise, as you have yourself found out. now chester brown’s work on louis riel would make it some sort of exception; but then what is “nationalist” about the story of a french-speaking métis rebel? maybe my whole problem, after all, is with that “nationalist” word, more so than the “canadian” one.

  8. inkstuds says:

    @BVS I think knowing Chester’s politics is important, as it adds to an understanding of his work. Chester is a very private guy, but ran for office based on his politics, which is very telling to how important it is to him. I don’t think its necessarily the slant of his politics, but interpreting it in terms of his work. As Jeet mentioned, Louis Riel was specifically told in a fashion that was removed. There are parts in the book, that have very deliberate revisionist components.

    Also, Chester’s politics in itself, are very different from the larger political national identity, which is fascinating on its own.

    @Jeet I would love to have a more thorough discussion of what the Canadian cartoonist identity is. I do see larger arcs developing and am fascinated by the regionalism of Canadian comics and how that reflects our own national identity. Of course, my regional focus could be based on my own identity as a west coaster.

  9. brad mackay says:

    I think any Canadian cartoonist (or artist, writer, director etc.) who chooses to address his or her country directly in their art should be applauded; French or English. If only for the reason that it is often commercially toxic to do so.
    I remember many many American critics scoffing when the Chester first began the serialization of Riel, the criticism being that it would have limited interest outside the small, cultural backwater that is our glorious nation. We all know how that turned out.
    And it can be fun, too! I always thought that one of the great thrills of, say Wimbledon Green for example, are the many hidden Canadiana “shout-outs” that Seth inserts…like the TV anchor “Nash Knowlton” or the artist Jimmy Fries … that only long-time Canadians would appreciate. It’s like he’s saying, “Yah – I get it too. We are a bit different, and that’s a good thing.”

  10. brad mackay says:

    This coming from a man who has become obsessed with restoring the legacy of a long-deceased Canadian cartoonist……

  11. BVS says:

    interesting. I hadn’t seen that comic, and I didn’t know he ran for an office.
    I had just often felt like his libertarian politics had been made too big a deal of by the comics press when I hadn’t really see much of those sentiments showing up in his comics.
    although perhaps he was making a big satement about individual property rights with all that stuff about penis amputation and interdimentional penis possession in Ed the Happy clown

  12. Jude Killory says:

    I just read “George Sprott” last week and because of that and also my love for David Collier and Chester Brown(whom the GS book is dedicated to) I have been really interested in Jeet’s post and the reply thread. I have to admit I am not exposed to Canadian issues very much here in the states and am woefully ignorant about my Northern neighbor. I would go so far as to say that most of what I know about Canadian culture and how it differs from the United States comes from comics, more than any other medium. As soon as I read the first sentence in this post I thought of Robin who is also someone I think of as an artist(yes Robin I do see your body of work as art) with a strong Canadian agenda. I do not know the regional differences that occur in Northern North America and would love a modern Canadian Dharma Bums where someone started in Nova Scotia and made their way to Vancouver , Victoria or the Yukons and documented their experience. Robin after you graduate you should take a trip and get all of your Canadian comic friends to illustrate the different chapters of your story.

  13. Tom Devlin says:

    BVS,

    I think Chester is a late-comer to the right and Libertarianism in particular. In fact, I think his political switch is almost entirely post-LR (maybe influenced by his Louis readings.) But I do not know for sure.

    I say this as a fan of his work not as an official D+Q mouthpiece by the way. I have never spoken to him about his politics.

    Tom

  14. bart beaty says:

    Jeet, I’m not sure that I can read what Brown and Seth are doing as aligned with the type of work that Smith disparages in Noise, and which particularly characterized writers like Atwood in the 70s. Seth’s work in particular seems much more local, and Toronto-specific, to me than national. It’s a Good Life takes as one of its central themes the hinterland/metropole relationship (southwestern Ontario – Toronto; Toronto – New York), which is admittedly common in Canadian fiction but not, I would suggest, defining of it.

    I would suggest that the elements that you identify here as notably (anglo)Canadian – small towns, historical figures – can be found in the work of other non-Canadian cartoonists whose work is similarly rooted in close observation of local conditions. Take Chris Ware, whose work on bygone Nebraska and the Chicago World’s Fair have a lot in common with Seth’s work, but which is by no means Canadian. Or Pekar’s work and Cleveland.

    A lot of the comments here point to the difficulty of assigning a sense of the nation to a state that is bilingual and multicultural, and I share a lot of that skepticism. I’m much more swayed by the idea that many of Canada’s best cartoonists are distinctly tied to very local scenes that they document. Upton’s Vancouver, Collier’s Hamilton, Rabagliati’s Montreal, O’Malley’s Toronto and so on. I don’t tend to think of Seth or Brown as Canadian cartoonists nearly as much as I think of them as Toronto cartoonists. Joe Matt too, and he’s not even Canadian

  15. inkstuds says:

    Bart is saying what I want to, but of course, is much better at saying it.

    Is there a great Canadian graphic novel? I don’t know if that’s possible. An important understanding of Canadian identity, is that it is anything but a melting pot.

  16. Jeet Heer says:

    Lots to think about here. Of course, all Canadian identities are “limited identities.” Although the same can be said, I think, of any national identity: for example, American nationalism is also fractured on regional lines: Chris Ware’s America is not Jack Chick’s America. What I called Canadian nationalism was a very specific project, admittedly largely confined to anglophones in central Canada, to demarcate a specifically “Canadian” set of narrative themes in the 1960s and 1970s. Aspects of this project live on, I’d argue, in the work of Seth, Brown, Collier and others (such as Lemire). Perhaps its wrong to call that project Canadian nationalism. Let’s call it the Upper Canadian Nationalist Project (UCNP). This project has parallels in French-Canada, which went through its own distinct cultural nation building phase in this period, aspects of which can be seen in both Doucet’s work and Rabagliati’s work (among others).

  17. Rob Clough says:

    Someone remind me; wasn’t there an article in the Comics Journal about the Montreal comics scene a few years ago?

    I bought the Cyclops: Aim For the Eye anthology a few years back, which was heavily Montreal-influenced and filled with work whose visceral quality reminded me a bit of the American underground comics of the 60s, only not filtered through EC comics. I should take another look at it.

    • david t says:

      rob, the cyclops anthology is interesting but a bit out of date. for more current stuff you’ll need to look for (yet?) untranslated material. meaning you need to know some french, or at least pretend you do. 🙂 a great recent book is “aplomb” by vincent giard (caveat: he’s a friend & collaborator of mine), published by colosse, which is mostly silent, thus very approachable from non-francophones. there’s more of course (with the additional caveat that i’m directly or indirectly involved with much of it), maybe for another time…

  18. […] Jeet Heer wonders if the late-nationalism of Seth, Chester Brown, and David Collier is indicative of […]

  19. […] perhaps also why the more memorable finds from my trawling opaquely reflect that Q&A. Jeet Heer made a case for reading cartoonists Seth and Chester Brown as late-born Canadian nationalists. I still need to […]

  20. brad mackay says:

    I hate to call bullshit on Bart here, but calling Seth, Chester or David’s work “un-Canadian” because it represents social or historical moments from Southern Ontario is well, bullshit. Is the Group of Seven’s body of work lacking in Canadian-ness because the painted from locations exclusively in Ontario? What about Stephen Leacock? Or Albert Chartier? Or Bill Reid for that matter? (Blatant shout-out to Robin.)

    It’s way too common and reflexive to dismiss someone’s work as being “regional” or “provincial” and therefoe not representative of Canada as a whole. Seth’s work is steeped in his own experience growing up in Southern Ontario and is every bit as Canadian as Upton’s West Coast influenced comics. To go back to my original comment, these artist’s should be applauded for firmly placing their work in a Canadian context, whether it’s in B.C., Alberta, Quebec or P.E.I. It’s all part of a larger body of work that can be classified as Canadian culture.

  21. […] cartoonist Seth. I talk about the new CNQ here. 4. Speaking of Seth, and tying everything together, here is a short essay, really more of a notebook entry, about the late-born Canadian nationalism of Seth and other […]

  22. brad mackay says:

    Robin, It’s just cause he’s a West Coaster is all. And he wasn’t that boring actually — he was a CBC Radio announcer for years before he got the whole sculpture thing going. That’s almost as great at Vonnegut working as a used car salesman as he was writing Breakfast of Champions.

  23. andrew lesk says:

    Jeet, you’ve said in few words what I took reams to say, in my (very recent) article on Brown’s Louis Riel. (You can read it free, on-line, at http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a922757930&fulltext=713240928#EN0001). Well done!

    andrew

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