From Romanticism to Realism: Literature in Canada’s Industrial Age

The late 19th century marked Canada’s dramatic shift from an agrarian society to an industrial powerhouse, a transformation that deeply influenced its literary landscape. Early works clung to romanticized visions of rural life, resisting the encroaching urban reality. William Kirby’s 1859 epic The U.E.: A Tale of Upper Canada portrayed the region as an untouched Eden, while Charles Mair’s 1886 poem Tecumseh critiqued American industrialization while celebrating Indigenous resistance.

By the 1890s, as factories and cities dominated, literature pivoted toward realism. Writers like Sara Jeannette Duncan (The Imperialist, 1904) and Stephen Leacock (Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, 1912) dissected class tensions, immigrant struggles, and the moral ambiguities of urban life. Leacock’s satirical Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich (1914) exposed the cutthroat politics of industrial elites, using humor to critique societal greed.

The Cultural Divide: Francophone Resistance and Anglophone Adaptation

Quebec’s slower industrialization bred a distinct literary response. While English-Canadian authors embraced urban themes, Francophone writers like Louis Hémon (Maria Chapdelaine, 1914) idealized rural Catholic virtues. This divergence reflected Quebec’s struggle to preserve its identity amid Anglophone-dominated industrialization. Yet by the 1930s, even Quebec literature turned toward realism, as seen in Gabrielle Roy’s The Tin Flute (1945), which exposed urban poverty with unflinching honesty.

The Group of Seven and the Birth of a National Aesthetic

Parallel to literature, Canadian painting underwent a radical reinvention. Early 20th-century artists like Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven rejected European traditions, instead crafting a bold, distinctly Canadian style. Their vivid landscapes—depicting Georgian Bay, Algonquin Park, and the Rockies—were framed as metaphors for national resilience. As critic Barker Fairley noted, their 1924 Wembley Exhibition debut “placed Canadian painting at the forefront of national culture.”

Emily Carr, though not officially part of the Group, became a icon by blending Indigenous motifs with modernist techniques. Her later works, like Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky (1935), symbolized Canada’s fraught relationship with its wilderness and First Nations.

Radio, Film, and the Rise of Mass Culture

Industrialization birthed new cultural forms. By the 1920s, radio and cinema dominated leisure, though Canada struggled against U.S. cultural imperialism. The 1939 creation of the National Film Board (NFB) aimed to foster homegrown storytelling, albeit initially through documentaries like Churchill’s Island (1941). Meanwhile, CBC Radio (launched 1936) became a vital platform for Canadian voices, from Glenn Gould’s music to Marshall McLuhan’s theories.

Insulin and Innovation: Science in the Industrial Era

Technological progress extended beyond culture. The 1921 discovery of insulin by Frederick Banting and Charles Best—a landmark in medical history—showcased Canada’s growing scientific prowess. Postwar initiatives like the St. Lawrence Seaway (1954) and Alberta oil boom further cemented Canada’s status as a resource and innovation leader.

Legacy: Art as a Mirror of National Identity

From Leacock’s satire to Carr’s haunting forests, Canadian artists didn’t merely document industrialization—they shaped its meaning. Their works reveal tensions between tradition and modernity, rural and urban, Francophone and Anglophone. Today, this legacy endures: Margaret Atwood’s dystopias and Denis Villeneuve’s films continue to probe the costs of progress, proving Dorothy Livesay’s axiom that art is never apolitical, but a “means to political ends.”

In classrooms and galleries, these voices remind us that Canada’s identity was forged not just in factories and legislatures, but in the stories and brushstrokes of those who dared to reinterpret a changing world.