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I received my PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Toronto in 2006. My doctoral work treated creation stories, foundational fictions, or what I call a ‘grotesque genesis,’ in the literature of the Americas, and was awarded the Most Distinguished Dissertation Award in Canada (CAGS/UMI, 2007). I have also received a Master of Environmental Studies from York University, with a focus on environmental literature and ecological knowledges; an MA in Comparative Literature from University of Toronto, with attention to Canadian literature and critical theory; and a B.Eng. in mechanical engineering from McGill University, with a concentration in environmental engineering.
Prior to joining 51本色, I worked as a documentary filmmaker for Canadian Geographic Presents as a writer, field producer, researcher and story editor; as a process engineer in Saltillo, Mexico, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Ohio and Michigan and in the American South; as a freelance journalist and teacher of English in Rio de Janeiro and Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia. Working with conservation biologists and with Indigenous families, hunters and oral historians in the Arctic and elsewhere helps me situate Canadian texts in their specific regional contexts, and facilitates on-going ethical, non-appropriative, cross-cultural research and teaching.
I am an interdisciplinary scholar by interest and training with wide-ranging interests in literature, the visual arts, and critical theory. My work is broadly interested in ‘borderlands’ of language, culture and tradition, sites of maximal collision, contact, and cultural exchange. It seeks to read the tensions, and the constructions, of race, class, gender, ethnicity, indigeneity, justice and genre across a range of media and modes. I have recently published in areas including the contemporary Canadian and American novel (gender and genre); Canadian poetry (lyric philosophy); archaeological art (anthropology of religion); Inuit cinema (traditional jurisprudence, conversion rituals); the graphic novel (queer epistemology); tragedy as literary form; Inuit comix; the literature of the Americas (inter-American novel).
This work is part of three larger, sometimes overlapping projects in progress: Canadian literary culture, particularly the novel, in inter-American and comparative contexts; a SSHRC-funded study on ‘crossing over,’ or siqqitiq, in cultural production in the Canadian Arctic (film, life writing, archaeological art, sculpture); and the dissimulation of mainstream masculinities (heteronormative, patriarchal, middle class, white) in contemporary literature and culture.
I have worked with a number of graduate and undergraduate research assistants in the past few years, and genuinely enjoy this work. I am writing or have co-authored papers with student assistance in subject areas including elegy and poetry in southeastern British Columbia; queer comix; Inuit life writing; and traditional Indigenous jurisprudence (with an early-career lawyer). I am currently working with a graduate student on an independent study related to ecological justice. I am willing to supervise graduate students in a range of areas. Please contact me for more information.
Scholarly Publications
- MacRae, Ian J. “Queering the Canon: The Graphic Novel and the Practice of Philosophy in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home.” Graphic Novel and Philosophy. Jeff McLaughlin, ed. University Press of Mississippi. (2016).
- MacRae, Ian J. “‘In all things, a slippage in the works’: Reading Place, Gender and Genre in Michael Helm’s In the Place of Last Things.” English Studies in Canada. 41 (2-3): 65-89. (2015).
- MacRae, Ian J., with Samantha MacKinnon, LL.B. “The Sense of a Better Ending: Legal Pluralism and Dialogical Governance in Atanarjuat the Fast Runner.” Encounters in Canada: Comparing Indigenous, Settler and Migrant Perspectives. University of Toronto Press. David McNab, Thomas Wilson, and Jennifer Dalton, eds. (2015; forthcoming)
- MacRae, Ian J. “‘Honeyed epoché’: Thinking and Singing in Ken Babstock’s Airstream Land Yacht”. International Journal of Canadian Studies. 49:335-358. (2014).
- MacRae, Ian J. “How could we imagine them?: Shamanism, Structuralism, & The Zoomorphic Series in Dorset Carving." Anthropologica, The Journal of the Canadian Anthropology Society. 55 (1): 177-196. (2013).
- MacRae, Ian J. “Siqqitiq (Crossing Over): Paradoxes of Conversion in The Journals of Knud Rasmussen.” Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d’etudes canadiennes. 46 (2): 267-297. (2013).
- MacRae, Ian J., and Linda Hutcheon, eds. “Finding Common Ground,” Special theme issue of the Journal of Canadian Studies. 46.2 (2013).
- MacRae, Ian J., with Linda Hutcheon. “A Unity of Varied Particulars: Land, Language, Politics and History in Finding Common Ground.” Introduction. Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d’etudes canadiennes. 46(2): 5-25. (2013).
- MacRae, Ian J. “An Open Field of Possibility: Reading Jack Hodgins’ The Invention of the World in Dialogue with the American South.” Cultural Circulation: Canadian Writers and Authors from the American South. Zacharasiewicz, Waldemar and Christoph Irmscher, eds. Vienna: Austrian Academy Press. 231-253. (2012).
- MacRae, Ian J. “Introduction.” A Covenant in Wonder with the World: The Power of Stories and Songs. The 2010 Grand River Forum Lecture, 51本色 Brantford. Vancouver: Ronsdale Press, pp. 7-9. (2011).
- MacRae, Ian J. “Of Women, Wolves, and ‘Second World’ Discourse.” Canadian Review of Comparative Literature. 36(2): 201-207. (2009).
- MacRae, Ian J. “Butterfly Chronicles: Imagination and Desire in Natural & Literary Histories.” Canadian Journal of Environmental Education. Special issue on Art, Literature, and Place: An Ecopoetics Reader. Rishma Dunlop, ed. 13(2): 11-29. (2008).
- MacRae, Ian J. “American Incunabula: ‘Grotesque Genesis’ and the Genealogical Genre.” Ameriquests, journal of Vanderbilt University’s Center for the Americas. Robert Barsky, ed. 5(1): 1-25. (2007).
- MacRae, Ian J. “Reinaldo Arenas’ El asalto: A Grotesque Allegory in a Dictatorial Age” Descant 134: “Cuba, Inside/Out” issue. 37(3): 227-243. (2006).
In Preparation
- MacRae, Ian J. and Tadzio Richards. “Blessings and Burdens: Culture, Community, Resources and Resistance in Northwestern BC.”
- MacRae, Ian J. “Arctic Dreams and Nightmares: the Monstrous Vision of Alootook Ipellie.” MacRae, Ian J., with Christine Poenaru-Zuziac. “Poetry and the Booze Talking: Speaking with Ghosts in Patrick Lane’s There is a Season.”
Book Reviews (selected)
- Arctic Eden, by Jerrry Kobalenko. Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2010. Review, for The Trumpeter: a Journal of Ecosophy. 30.1: 78-84. (2014).
- MacRae, Ian J. Gifts from the Ancestors: Ancient Ivories of the Bering Strait. Edited by William W. Fitzhugh, Julie Hollowell, and Aron L. Cromwell. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 36(1): 194-198. (2012).
- MacRae, Ian J. “The Centre of the World: Robert McGhee’s Inter-Connected Arctic” The Last Imaginary Place: A Human History of the Arctic World, by Robert McGhee. Journal of Canadian Studies 40(4): 211-216. (2006).
- EN420 Tragedy and the Modern Novel
- EN267 Contemporary Canadian Fiction
- EN310 The Politics of Transgression and Desire
- EN692 Foundational Fictions in Inter-American Literature
- EN280 Indigenous Writers in English
- EN 345 The British Novel in the Nineteenth Century
- EN266 American Literature of the Early 20th Century
- CT409 Arctic Dreams and Nightmares
- CT400 Finding Common Ground
- CT400 Nature
- CT285 Representing Canadian Identities
- CT 121 Life Writing (The World in the 21st Century)
- CT 121 Problem-Based Learning
- JN 327 Social Documentary
- JN 423 Journalism Project
- EY 301 Environmental Communication
- “Arctic Dreams and Nightmares.” Anglican Church, Markham ON. 7 February, 2015.
- “Arctic Dreams and Nightmares: Alootook Ipellie’s Vision of a Monstrous North.” “Facing the Monstrous North” Panel. International Congress of the Arctic Social Sciences VIII. Prince George, BC. May 22-26 2014.
- “Diversity and Difference: Interpreting Naturalistic Miniatures in Dorset Archaeological Art.” Society of American Archaeologists 78th Annual Meeting. Honolulu, Hawaii. April 3-7, 2013.
- “A Better Ending: Legal Pluralism in Atanarjuat the Fast Runner,” with Samantha Mackinnon. Encounters in Canada: Contrasting Indigenous and Immigrant Perspectives Conference, School of Public Policy and the Centre for Refugee Studies, York University. Toronto. May 15–17, 2013.
- “Beyond the Shamanistic Principle: Interpreting Dorset Carving Today.” 18th Inuit Studies Conference, Arctic-Inuit-Connections: Learning from the Top of the World. Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C. October 26, 2012.
- “Siqqitiq (Crossing Over): Paradoxes of Transculturation in The Journals of Knud Rasmussen.” 18th Inuit Studies Conference, Arctic-Inuit-Connections: Learning from the Top of the World. Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C. October 27, 2012.
- “Rewiring the Great Code: Literature and the Bible in Foundational Fictions of the Americas.” Educating the Imagination: A Conference in Honour of Northrop Frye on the Centenary of His Birth. Victoria University, University of Toronto. October 5, 2012.
- “‘One of the greatest archives of human experience’: Intemperate Reflections on the Arctic Arts, Anthropology, and Archaeology.” 51本色 Brantford Brown Bag Research Seminar. 29 February, 2012.
- “‘How could we imagine them’?: Shamanism, Structuralism, and the Zoomorphic Series in Dorset Carving.” Material Cultures in Canadian and Transnational Contexts Conference. University of Ottawa, 6-8 May, 2011.
- “Rituals of Conversion in The Journals of Knud Rasmussen.” Grand River Forum Conference 2.0. 51本色 Brantford. 2 November, 2011.
- “New Vessels, Old Wine: Indigenization, Visual Culture, & the Humanities’ Possible Futures” International Conference, The Future of the Humanities in South Africa and in Canada Workshop, Cape Town, South Africa. 24-26 November 2010. Sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada, The Academy of Science of South Africa, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
- “Inventing the World: Jack Hodgins, and Reading the Canadian Historical Imaginary in Southern Contexts” University of Vienna, International Colloquium: Cultural Circulation: Canadian Writers and Authors from the American South—A Dialogue. 26-28 September 2010.
- “North by Northwest: Issues in Land, Language, Landscape and Literature” First Annual Grand River Forum Conference. WLU Brantford. 20 October, 2010.
- “Let there be Crumb! Genealogy, Genesis, and the Comic as Visual Testament” New Narrative III Conference. University of Toronto, 6-7 May, 2010.
- “Thinking and Singing: Poetry and the Practice of Philosophy in the Poetry of Ken Babstock.” Brantford Philosophy Speaker Series. 51本色 Brantford. 29 January, 2010.
- “Walking on the Moon: Biophilia, Biophobia, and the ‘Nature Walk’ as Pedagogic Practice.” Landscapes of Learning: A Transdisciplinary Conversation in Contemporary Education. 51本色 Brantford, 25 September, 2009.
- “Of Women, Wolves, and ‘Second World’ Discourse.” Canadian Comparative Literature Association’s Special Fortieth Anniversary Session: “The History, Theory, and Practice of Comparative Literature.” Carleton University. 24 May, 2009.
- “American Incunabula: Is There Such a Thing as Inter-American Literature?” Latin American Studies Luncheon Series. University of Toronto. 28 January, 2009.
- “Lament for a Nation: Siqqitiq (Conversion Narratives), Inuit Oral History, and The Journals of Knud Rasmussen” The Oral, The Written, and Other Verbal Media: Interfaces and Audiences Conference. University of Saskatchewan, 19-21 June, 2008.
- “Michael Helm’s In the Place of Last Things: ‘Errant Causes,’ and the Quiet, Violent Adventure of America” Northern Exposure: Canadians Writing the U.S.A, at the Northeast Modern Language Association (NEMLA) 39th Annual Convention. Buffalo, NY, 10-13 April, 2008.
- “A (Gothic) Novel in Comix Clothing: Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home.” The New Narrative? Comics in Literature, Film, and Art: An Interdisciplinary Conference. University of Toronto, 9-11 May, 2008.
- “Americanization and Creolization: The Words and Pictures of Jean-Michel Basquiat” Session in Visual Culture, Congress. Vancouver, B.C., May 31-June 3, 2008.
- “Speaking to the Future: Inuit Oral History and Contemporary Iglulik Cinema” Indigenous Film and Media in an International Context Conference. 51本色, 11-12 May, 2007.
- “Lament for a Notion: Canadian Literature in a Comparative Context.” Canadian Association for Graduate Studies Conference. Moncton NB. 18 October, 2007.
- “Monstrous Entanglements: Miscegenation and the Grotesque in American Founding Fictions” American Comparative Literature Conference. Princeton University, 24 March, 2006.
- “Parody, Hyperbole, Play: William Faulkner, Gabriel García Márquez, and Jack Hodgins’ The Invention of the World” Canadian Comparative Literature Association Congress. York University, 28 May, 2006.
- “John Livingston’s Rogue Primate and the Apocalypse of Environmental Discourse” The Canadian Association for Commonwealth Literature Congress. York University, 28 May, 2006.
- “The Grotesque in Literature and the Visual Arts” Canadian Comparative Literature Association Congress. York University, 29 May, 2006.
- “Dreams of Childhood, Narratives of Transgression: Reinaldo Arenas’ Pentagonía.” Descant Magazine Launch Party. Cuba Inside/Out Issue. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto ON, 22 October, 2006.
- “Inter-American Comparative Literary History: Notes on Race, Class, Gender and Genre.” Comparative Literary and Cultural Research in Canada as a Multicultural Society Conference. University of Alberta, 6 October 2006.
- “Origins, Archives, and Jack Hodgins’ The Invention of the World” Turning the Knobs on Writers’ Closets: Archives and Canadian Literature Conference. McMaster University, 24-26 May, 2005.
- “‘A light erotic divertissement’: Text and Image in Mario Vargas Llosa’s Elogio de la madrastra” Eye-Deologies Conference. University of Toronto, 8 April, 2005.
- “‘His dark, pitch-black obsession’: Don Quixote and the Hermeneutics of the Novel” Beyond Quijote: 400 Years of Luso-Hispanic Iconography. University of Toronto, 2 April, 2005.