Historical Memory And National Identity In Regional Narration

This dissertation uses theories of literary anthropology and regional narration to analyze The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, a Canadian bestseller, a novel about Newfoundland that centres on the story of Joe Smallwood, the true-life controversial political figure who ushered the island through confederation with Canada and became its first premier. The paper studies the novel from three perspectives: political history, feminist and national mentality, and proposing that the novel constructs the historical memory and national identity of Newfoundland through regional narration from the three aspects. The paper then compares The Colony of Unrequited Dreams with two regional narrative novels from Chinese modern writers, exploring the possibilities of construction of historical memory and national identity through regional narration.