Cultural Darwinism and the literary canon: A comparative study of Susanna Moodie's 'Roughing It in the Bush' and Caroline Leakey's 'The Broad Arrow

The publication history of Susanna Moodie's Roughing It in the Bush (1852) and Caroline Leakey's The Broad Arrow (1859) influenced both books' canonical position in the nineteenth century and the present day. Both works met with differing levels of success in the nineteenth century, and were positioned by their publishers first as popular works and then later as national texts. However, whereas Roughing It became a seminal work of Canadian literature, The Broad Arrow was only briefly part of an Australian popular canon before it was quickly forgotten.;What affects the canonical position of a text is the primary question I address by utilizing Carole Gerson's theory of Cultural Darwinism to break down the factors that influence the changing status of a book. Cultural Darwinism incorporates timing, topicality and imprint as the three main factors that decide a book's canonical status and that mark "a struggle for textual survival." Roughing It in the Bush and The Broad Arrow offer a comparison point from which to survey the influence of the various publishing factors on the canonical process. Expanding on Gerson's three factors, my study of the initial publishing history, imprint status, reception and timing of the nineteenth century editions of Roughing It in the Bush and The Broad Arrow reveals the influence of the publishing process on canon formation. The publishing factors inter-link and overlap with other elements in the two case studies, resulting in a complex and contingent system of canon creation. This examination suggests possible explanations as to why Moodie became a foremother of Canadian literature and Leakey a forgotten Australian author.