John Frederic Herbin : the re-creation of the past

John Frederic Herbin (1860-1923), a Nova Scotian writer of prose, poetry, and fiction, told a reporter from the Boston Sunday Herald in 1905 that his life was a mission to write and work in order to honour his Acadian ancestors. Successful in his efforts to preserve the land at Grand-Pré as a memorial park, he also published Grand-Pré: A Sketch of the Occupation of the Shores of the Basin of Minas (1898), The Land of Evangeline (1921), three volumes of poetry between 1891 and 1909, and two novels, The Heir To Grand-Pré (1907) and Jen of the Marshes (1921). In his desire to celebrate Acadian history and culture, Herbin wrote of an idealized Acadian society. In so doing, he made himself vulnerable to the charges of manipulation, invention, and commercialization which Ian McKay directs at cultural producers in his book The Quest of the Folk (1994). However, Herbin transcends McKay's criticism, by pursuing his mission to honour his Acadian ancestors with uncompromising sincerity, honesty, and devotion. As a direct descendant of Acadians deported in 1755, J. F. Herbin survives in Canadian literature as an informed proponent of the Acadian cause.