The Michael Cook Papers First Accession and Second Accession ed. by Marlys Chevrefils, Apollonia Steele

Abstract

book, and by keeping it for the end Dragland keeps his conflicts alive. For some readers, this detail, along with Dragland’s misleading references to “genocide” (121, 205) in the context of a policy that was not genocidal in intent or effect, will be sufficient to damn Scott. Not for Stan Dragland. He concludes with an anecdote about Wordsworth and a Jamaican student who had never seen a daffodil. Dragland is torn between the desire to have shown the student “a few daffodils in my backyard and soiled the purity of his valuable ignorance” and the idea that “Maybe Wordsworth’s daffodils should be a problem to native-born Canadians as well” (265). The impli­ cation seems to be that Canadians should be able to understand both sides of the “daffodil gap,” to use Chris Tiffin’s phrase. I would add that just as some of the adherents of imperialism were blind to the differences between Canada and England, so some of the adherents of postcolonial theory are blind to the differences between Canada and Jamaica. This book is beautifully written and produced. Paul Milton informed me of one small error: an article of mine is dated 1896, years before I had any interest in this subject. t r a c y w a r e / Queen’s University The Michael Cook Papers First Accession and Second Accession, comp. Marlys Chevrefils, ed. Apollonia Steele (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 1994). xlii, 249. $24.95 paper. The Michael Cook Papers First Accession and Second Accession, an inven­ tory of the Michael Cook Papers at the University of Calgary, is a welcome resource for the field of Canadian Theatre Research. With an extensive biocritical essay by Malcolm Page and a general and specific archival intro­ duction by Jean F. Tenor and Marlys Chevrefils, the text lists two accessions of Cook papers, the first covering the period of the early 1960s to 1985 and the second from the mid-eighties to 1991. The papers of the late Michael Cook are significant for a number of reasons. Primarily, they indicate the range and diversity of his creative endeavours in the fields of theatre, radio, and criticism. Also, the holdings of this archive offer a commentary on the cultural landscape of Canada during one of the most interesting periods of our recent past. Finally, the Michael Cook papers themselves raise provoca­ tive questions for the researcher about the process, production, and reception of art in its own times and the thorny issue of historical theatre research. Malcolm Page’s thoughtful biocritical essay introduces the complexities and tensions that the consideration of these papers creates. The various drafts and revisions set against differing productions raise interesting 479 questions about text, production, and reception. While I remain uncomfort­ able about such blanket labels as “ Theresa’s Creed is wholly realistic, as is Head, Guts and Sound Bone Dance’’'' (xxiv), Page’s commentary on the vari­ ous productions and versions of Head, Guts and Sound Bone Dance indicates the complexity of this area of research where text, production, and reception are undeniably linked yet curiously discreet entities. It is this overwhelming tension that dominates the consideration of this inventory of papers. In the general archival introduction, the inventory is placed in context. In response to the perception that “archives are seen as sources of frustration almost as often as they are seen as sources of information” (xxxv), Michael Cook Papers First Accession and Second Accession lays out the extensive collection so that the researcher may “make informed decisions on the ad­ visability of committing scarce resources to examine the papers in person” (xxxv). The first accession and second accession inventories, each contain­ ing a correspondence, manuscript, columns, sound recording, and works by other author series, indicate the extensive range of this collection. Prom Cook’s various drafts of play text and radio dramas to his extensive body of criticism, the inventory of this archives offers a wide range of material, cleanly laid out for the potential researcher. The general introduction also indicates the choices the archivist made in preparing this published inventory and in setting up this particular collec­ tion. Stating that descriptions “should provide ... an acceptable degree...