The Past is Present

The Black tile in Canadas mosaic has long been neglected in historiography, literary criticism and public discourse. African-Canadian literature sets out to correct this absence. This study provides an in-depth look into the fiction of one of African-Canadian literatures foremost writers, Lawrence Hill. His novels provide a counter-memory, an antidote to the forgetfulness and neglect which often characterize Canadas attitude towards its Black minority both past and present. Dominant collective memory versions are thus corrected to reflect a more faithful Canadian mosaic. Whether it is the enslavement of Blacks in Canada, de facto segregation or racial profiling Hill narrates histories which have rarely been told before. This book is the first to provide a comprehensive analysis of Hills historical fictions.