Northrop Frye on Modern Culture

Eradicating once and for all the unfounded notion that Northrop Frye was not a political writer, this 11th volume in the Collected Works of Northrop Frye gathers together all of Frye’s writings on politics, culture, the arts, history, literature, mass media and music. Written between 1934 and 1986, these collected works illustrate the extent of Frye’s engagement with the unfolding events of 20th-century political life, from the Great Depression to the Reagan/Thatcher/Mulroney era. The centrepiece of the volume, Frye’s learned and wide-ranging contribution to the Canadian confederation celebrations, The Modern Century (1967), is accompanied by pieces that reflect Frye’s observations on such diverse political events as the Oxford King and Country debate and the Vietnam war, revealing Frye the literary theorist as Frye the political entity. Jan Gorak’s introduction and annotations serve to historicize Frye and situate him and his work in the historical and critical context of 20th-century Canada and North America. Frye’s work is discussed in relation to that of T.S. Eliot, Edmund Wilson, Raymond Williams, Marshall McLuhan, Harold Innis, E.J. Pratt, A.J.M. Smith, F.A. Underhill, J.S. Woodsworth, George Grant and especially Oswald Spengler. Erudite and enlightening, Frye’s comments on politics are as relevant today as they were when he wrote them and this volume should be a valuable reference for understanding the essential Frye.