Perry Moore Defends Kenneth J. Harvey’s Blackstrap Hawco
Click here to read Salty Ink’s introduction to Kenneth J. Harvey, Blackstrap Hawco, and nominator Perry Moore.
Blackstrap Hawco: Not an Atlantic Canadian Novel
I’d better explain that title right away. Naturally, there’s been a few days between the time I volunteered to write this for Salty Ink and the moment of sitting down to write this. As I’ve been thinking of what to write, I’ve been pondering the audience and its expectations. The focus of this website and this competition is the literature of Atlantic Canada. However, part of the point of
Blackstrap Hawco is that Newfoundland and Labrador doesn’t really fit into Canada in a way that many Canadians would find convenient. Being lumped into Atlantic Canada, which is as much a politically motivated concept as a geographic one, contributes to that alienation, at least for me. I feel I would be doing the work an injustice by not bringing that up with you.
That said, I think Blackstrap Hawco, a novel written by a Canadian citizen who lives near the Atlantic Ocean, is a crucially important book. Those who identify as Atlantic Canadians should certainly read
it. The novel should be read not only for entertainment value, for appreciation of the literary skill shown in its construction, or for the vivid portrayal of its characters. Rather, Blackstrap Hawco is singularly valuable as an aid to understanding why Newfoundland and Labrador is the way it is. While there have been many good creative works that get close to the truth, Blackstrap Hawco is, in my experience, the most successful portrayal of Newfoundland life ever made.
The vernacular culture of Canada includes, in its darkest corners, certain prejudices about “Newfies” and Newfoundland. Stereotypes abound. However, very little of the literature, film and television that portrays Newfoundland addresses the stereotypes. They’re pretty depressing and negative after all, and most often they’re extraneous to what a writer wants to do with a specific work. As a result, the culture is romanticized and separated from reality in many fictional portrayals. Friendly natives, easy life, humour, fresh air: there is some truth in these details, but they are not constant, not at all times or in all places in Newfoundland and Labrador. Stretching truth for artistic purposes or entertainment value is nothing new. The result of artistic license in this case, regrettably, is a cognitive dissonance between the literary and popular views of the province that doesn’t help solve the problems that the province has within Canada.
The fact is, life in Newfoundland has not been pretty for the majority of the population throughout its history. (Traditionally, they make you kiss a codfish when you get screeched in, and I think that’s a
perfect symbol for the reality of Newfoundland history.) I think people holding negative stereotypes would be more sympathetic to what goes on in Newfoundland and Labrador if the ugliness, along with the beauty, was more widely understood.
Ken Harvey gets all that. Newfoundland – I am at a loss for a synonym here, “this province” or “this nation” or “this place” are not wide enough to fit the context of the novel – is not a literary tool in
his book, it is a character as well as a frame. Blackstrap Hawco captures the real Newfoundland, its history of isolation and deprivation and exploitation, its legends of perseverance and survival. The title character is essentially set up as a Newfoundland messiah. The history of Newfoundland, as expressed in a rich and challenging narrative by the experiences of his family and ancestors, is what makes him what he is and what motivates him to do what he does. But he is also doomed by that history to fail, becoming another tragic ghost in a book full of ghosts. In the end, though, Blackstrap joins the legends as well as the ghosts.
Blackstrap Hawco is a poignant portrayal of a distinct culture. For both its success at achieving its agenda and as a masterful literary work, the novel is an essential read for all Canadians.
On June 18th, polls will open for the public to vote for the book, by an Atlantic Canadian author, that they think the country should read this summer! Follow the contest here: http://saltyink.com/atlantic-canada-reads-competition/
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