Canadian Identity and Wildlife Description in Canadian Literature: Telling Stories beyond Survival in Marian Engel’s Bear

This paper examines the representation of wildlife in Marian Engel’s Bear as a departure from that of wildlife in realistic animal stories in Canada. Canada’s vast wilderness serves as a green space to escape civilization, to explore the self, and to provide solace and renewal. Engel’s Bear firmly stands in this tradition, and this book occupies a central place in Canadian identity and in the Canadian literary imagination. In Engel’s Bear, amazingly complex textual qualities can be noticed. This complex textual grain subverts the stable paradigm that human language can reflect the lives of wildlife. The diverse discourses found in the colonel’s library amplify the meaning of Lou’s bear to an overwhelming degree and make its meaning uncertain. The numerous images and stories about bears are juxtaposed and superimposed like a mosaic, making it difficult to determine the meaning of the bear that Lou encounters. Engel’s Bear is a remarkably successful retelling of a Canadian wildlife story that draws on Canadian artistic traditions with disturbing resonance.