Ledwell, Jane, and Jean Mitchell, eds. Anne around the World: L.M. Montgomery and Her Classic. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2013.
Paratext: Introduction by Jane Ledwell and Jean Mitchell
6” x 9”, x + 302 pp., 978-0-7735-4140-5 (trade paperback), 978-0-7735-4139-9 (unjacketed hardcover)
Anne around the World: L.M. Montgomery and Her Classic is a collection of essays edited and introduced by Jane Ledwell and Jean Mitchell and based on an international conference hosted by the L.M. Montgomery Institute and held at the University of Prince Edward Island in June 2008. It features original scholarship by Yoshiko Akamatsu, Doreley Carolina Coll, Brooke Collins-Gearing, Margaret Doody, Elizabeth R. Epperly, Barbara Carman Garner, Caroline E. Jones, Paul Keen, Jennie MacDonald, Susan Meyer, Jean Mitchell, Mary Henley Rubio, Gholamreza Samigorganroodi, Wendy Shilton, Cynthia Sugars, Tanfer Emin Tunc, Åsa Warnqvist, Elizabeth Waterston, and Budge Wilson. The book was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in both hardcover and trade paperback in May 2013.
- Anne around the World: L.M. Montgomery and Her Classic at McGill-Queen’s University Press
From the Back Cover
What makes Anne of Green Gables an international, time-honoured classic? International audiences have described reading L.M. Montgomery’s most celebrated novel as an experience in enchantment. Balancing criticism and celebration, Jane Ledwell and Jean Mitchell bring together essays that consider the sources of the wonder that Montgomery’s work inspires.
The popular appeal of Montgomery’s classic is undeniable, but the reasons for its worldwide resonance are less obvious. From a range of perspectives, the contributors to Anne around the World focus on the numerous themes the novel raises, showcasing why it has charmed readers across the globe—from Iran to Australia, and from Sweden to Japan. Essays consider issues of class, race, and colonial history, discuss Anne’s place in children’s literature, her passion for writing, and the ways in which L.M. Montgomery and her red-haired protagonist are celebrated by legions of fans.
Featuring contributions from many international writers, Anne around the World traces the meaning and influence of a story that spread far from its place of origin on a small Canadian island to distant and culturally diverse places.
Contents
Acknowledgments (ix–x)
Introduction / Jane Ledwell and Jean Mitchell (3–24)
Situating Montgomery and Her Classic
Anne of Green Gables—and Afterward / Elizabeth Waterston (27–34)
Lasting Images of Anne of Green Gables / Elizabeth R. Epperly (35–44)
Uncertainties Surrounding the Death of L.M. Montgomery / Mary Henley Rubio (45–62)
A Century of Critical Reflection on Anne of Green Gables / Barbara Carman Garner (63–79)
The Terrain of the Classic: Allusions and Intertexts
L.M. Montgomery and the Significance of “Classics,” Ancient and Modern / Margaret Doody (83–91)
“So—So—Commonplace”: Romancing the Local in Anne of Green Gables and Aurora Leigh / Paul Keen (92–105)
“Matthew’s School of Critics”: Learning to Read Anne of Green Gables / Cynthia Sugars (106–19)
Anne of Green Gables as Centre and Circumference / Wendy Shilton (120–30)
Provoking the Classic: Class, Colonialism, and Christianity
“Nice Folks”: L.M. Montgomery’s Classic and Subversive Inscriptions and Transgressions of Class / Caroline E. Jones (133–46)
Civilizing Anne: Missionaries of the South Seas, Cavendish Evangelicalism, and the Crafting of Anne of Green Gables / Jean Mitchell (147–63)
Narrating the “Classic” on Stolen Ground: Anne of Green Gables / Brooke Collins-Gearing (164–78)
Anne and After: The Local and Global Circulation of the Classic Text
Teaching and Reading Anne of Green Gables in Iran, the Land of Omar Khayyam / Gholamreza Samigorganroodi (181–91)
Reading Anne of Green Gables in Montevideo / Doreley Carolina Coll (192–99)
Teaching Anne and Antonia in Turkey: Feminist Girlhood in L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and Willa Cather’s My Antonia / Tanfer Emin Tunc (200–15)
The Continuous Popularity of Red-Haired Anne in Japan: An Interview with Yoshiko Akamatsu / Yoshiko Akamatsu (216–27)
“I Experienced a Light That Became a Part of Me”: Reading Anne of Green Gables in Sweden / Åsa Warnqvist (228–42)
Paratext and Aftertexts: Further Words on Anne
“I Just Love Pretty Clothes”: Considering the Sartorial in Anne of Green Gables / Jennie MacDonald (245–61)
Writing After Anne: L.M. Montgomery’s Influence on Canadian Children’s Literature / Susan Meyer (262–80)
Writing Before Green Gables / Budge Wilson (281–88)
Author Biographies (289–95)
Index (297–302)
Praise
“Anne around the World is a notable and memorable collection of essays which should become an important reference text in the academic field and an attractive read for general readers around the world who have an interest in L.M. Montgomery.”
—Joy Alexander, School of Education, Queen’s University, Belfast
Reviews
Reviews by Sarah Emsley and Teya Rosenberg.