Re-thinking Franklin and the Northwest Passage

In this talk, Sherrill Grace will briefly review narratives of Sir John Franklin as an Arctic hero/explorer and examine selected late-20th and early-21st Century Canadian literary and artistic "re-imaginings" of Franklin. In light of recent discoveries and ongoing searches related to Franklin and his last voyage, it is interesting to see what Canadian writers and filmmakers have done with the complex issues surrounding the dominant "myth" of Franklin. Dr. Grace will focus closely on the 2008 film by John Walker called "Passage" to consider some of the ways in which an artists can open up debate when they "re-think" accepted stories.