The Wacousta Syndrome: Explorations in the Canadian Langscape

Abstract

Over the past decade, cultural analytic methodology has changed and developed such that erstwhile favoured formalism has been replaced by structuralist and poststructuralist methods. These changes have expanded to a considerable degree the scope of interpretation. No longer do we simply see the text or the image as the whole, self-contained object. No longer is the author or the artist considered a transcendent self or bearer of meaning. Rather, now, we have focused on meaning being constructed in the discourses that articulate it; meaning is found in the interactive context of reader and text. This approach greatly expands interpretation to encompass not simply the text but also both the reader's active participation and the determining role of social conditions in the process of meaning production. Context is once again vital, removed from its packing case in the attic. It is again acceptable to recognize, as we always knew, that texts read differently in different socio-cultural conditions and at different periods. Art works derive meaning in part from the conditions of reception, the specifics of context; what Hans Robert Jauss called the horizon of reception of the audience. In Canada, art historians and critics have tended to be conservative in defining the range of their exploration of context. Often the context of initiation of the work is emphasized, while the context of reception is neglected; thus, the whole component of dynamic interaction of text and reader is omitted or given little attention. The result