Between the New Country and the Old World: William Chapman and French-Canadian Literary Nationalism

William Chapman (1850-1917) wrote patriotic verse recounting the history of New France, envisioning a glorious future for its descendants. Between the New Country and the Old World challenges the prevailing narrative that has labeled Chapman a second-rate, forgettable poet, showing how his life and work reveal important insights into literary fame, poetics in a transitional moment at the turn of the century, and the history of French literature in North America.

Erin E. Edgington is associate professor of French at the University of Nevada. She lives in Sparks, Nevada.