Description
The Emily Carr we think we know is itself a creation. In This Woman in Particular, artist and writer Stephanie Kirkwood Walker offers a fascinating study of how we construct the story of a famous life — examining the evolving public identity of Emily Carr (1871–1945), one of Canada’s most beloved painters. Walker, who calls biography “a deceptive genre,” traces how Carr’s image changed through successive books, revealing the assumptions and agendas that molded each portrait.
Drawing on her own background as both artist and scholar, Walker brings a unique perspective to questions of truth, myth, and representation in life writing. Her analysis illuminates not only Carr’s legacy but the broader ways we remember — and reinvent — creative lives.
Published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press, this is essential reading for students of Canadian art, biography, and cultural history. It challenges you to look beyond the legend and ask: whose story is being told, and why?
Artist and writer Stephanie Kirkwood Walker offers a fascinating study of how we construct the story of a famous life in This Woman in Particular: Contexts for the Biographical Image of Emily Carr. Published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press, this insightful volume examines the evolving public identity of one of Canada’s most beloved painters.
Emily Carr (1871–1945) is an icon of Canadian art — yet the Emily Carr we think we know is itself a creation, shaped by biographers, critics, and cultural myths. Walker, who describes biography as ‘a deceptive genre,’ traces how Carr’s image changed through successive books, revealing the assumptions, agendas, and cultural contexts that molded each portrait of the artist.
Drawing on her own background as both artist and scholar, Walker brings a unique perspective to questions of truth, myth, and representation in life writing. Her analysis illuminates not only Carr’s legacy but the broader ways we remember — and reinvent — creative lives.
Essential reading for students of Canadian art, biography, and cultural history, This Woman in Particular challenges readers to look beyond the legend and ask: whose story is being told, and why?
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