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Nacionalni imaginariji – Literarni imaginariji
functioning due to its documentary, i.e. subject-material, elements. Spe-
cial attention is paid to the representation of space and the representa-
tion of indigenous people. E.J. Pratt’s epic poetry is seen as the clearest
example of national interpellation. The choice of hero in “Brébeuf and
his Brethren” is suitable for the British-French (bicultural) identifica-
tion due to the hero’s origin. The identification is achieved through the
suppression of the natives, which culminates thematically in the com-
parison of the Iroquois language of torture with the European “high”
code of honour/saintliness. Even the affective-cognitive elements (meta-
phorical language) sustain this duality (the metaphor of a language bat-
tle). On the whole, Pratt avoids affective elements or any emphasis on
the work’s fictiveness. On the contrary, with the unobtrusive use of his-
torical quotations (from The Jesuit Rélations), he provides a framework
where centrifugal forces prevail: identification with the extra-textual
world is hardly put into the “as if ” relation. Moreover, „Brébeuf “ may be
read as a double ideological narrative, where a national narrative and a
Christian narrative are linked and do not contradict each other. Pratt’s
most obvious “national narrative”, “Towards the Last Spike,” is similar-
ly structured. Instead of the natives, the suppressed element here is na-
ture (the Laurentian Shield, in particular). The building of the railway
is clearly presented as a national mythological event, based on the cogni-
tive identification with the hostile land (the imagery of the Lizzard, the
parliamentary battles). The treatment of the theme is even more doc-
umentary and the selection of material even more “objective”, without
irony and emphasis on the fictive structure.
Pratt’s poetry was preceded by the poetry of the so called Confeder-
ation poets, in particular Archibald Lampman and D.C. Scott. Lamp-
man’s “At the Long Sault” proves to be specific and different from the
majority of other Lampman’s works. Structurally, the traces of nation-
al interpellation are found – again – in the choice of the character (en-
abling identification for both French and English language groups),
choice of the historical event itself and especially in the selection and
exclusion of details, which further enables identification with the pre-
sumed hero. Similarly as in Pratt’s Brébeuf, the British-French identifi-
cation is based on the suppression of the natives. The reader’s identifica-
tion in this unique Lampman’s long poem is based on rational and cog-
nitive elements, while the national interpellation in Lampman’s short,
lyric poetry is, by contrast, traceable in affective elements, whose role in
the poem is an excessive use of post-romantic fragility and the rebuttal of
a “naive” American transcendentalism. In D.C. Scott’s lyric poems, there
functioning due to its documentary, i.e. subject-material, elements. Spe-
cial attention is paid to the representation of space and the representa-
tion of indigenous people. E.J. Pratt’s epic poetry is seen as the clearest
example of national interpellation. The choice of hero in “Brébeuf and
his Brethren” is suitable for the British-French (bicultural) identifica-
tion due to the hero’s origin. The identification is achieved through the
suppression of the natives, which culminates thematically in the com-
parison of the Iroquois language of torture with the European “high”
code of honour/saintliness. Even the affective-cognitive elements (meta-
phorical language) sustain this duality (the metaphor of a language bat-
tle). On the whole, Pratt avoids affective elements or any emphasis on
the work’s fictiveness. On the contrary, with the unobtrusive use of his-
torical quotations (from The Jesuit Rélations), he provides a framework
where centrifugal forces prevail: identification with the extra-textual
world is hardly put into the “as if ” relation. Moreover, „Brébeuf “ may be
read as a double ideological narrative, where a national narrative and a
Christian narrative are linked and do not contradict each other. Pratt’s
most obvious “national narrative”, “Towards the Last Spike,” is similar-
ly structured. Instead of the natives, the suppressed element here is na-
ture (the Laurentian Shield, in particular). The building of the railway
is clearly presented as a national mythological event, based on the cogni-
tive identification with the hostile land (the imagery of the Lizzard, the
parliamentary battles). The treatment of the theme is even more doc-
umentary and the selection of material even more “objective”, without
irony and emphasis on the fictive structure.
Pratt’s poetry was preceded by the poetry of the so called Confeder-
ation poets, in particular Archibald Lampman and D.C. Scott. Lamp-
man’s “At the Long Sault” proves to be specific and different from the
majority of other Lampman’s works. Structurally, the traces of nation-
al interpellation are found – again – in the choice of the character (en-
abling identification for both French and English language groups),
choice of the historical event itself and especially in the selection and
exclusion of details, which further enables identification with the pre-
sumed hero. Similarly as in Pratt’s Brébeuf, the British-French identifi-
cation is based on the suppression of the natives. The reader’s identifica-
tion in this unique Lampman’s long poem is based on rational and cog-
nitive elements, while the national interpellation in Lampman’s short,
lyric poetry is, by contrast, traceable in affective elements, whose role in
the poem is an excessive use of post-romantic fragility and the rebuttal of
a “naive” American transcendentalism. In D.C. Scott’s lyric poems, there
