Overview
A poem that charts the history of a Canadian settler's utopian vision of a polyglot MĆ©tis nation
Louis Riel prophesied that a polyglot MĆ©tis nation would rise on the prairies five hundred years after his death, and that it would be called by the ājoyous nameā of the House of Charlemagne. This new polity would be built on the principles of Rielās Massinahican, a radical philosophical system which now survives only in fragments. Its hallmarks would be justice, ontological accord, and the blurring of all separations dividing women and men, the earth and human beings. The House of Charlemagne tracks the birth of this ideal nation in the burning imagination of the young settler Henry Jackson, who took the name HonorĆ© Jaxon after his encounter with Rielās vision.
Commissioned by Edward Poitras as a text for dancers, Tim Lilburnās poem gives voice and body to Rielās prescient metaphysics. As the Jury citation said of his Governor General's Award winning Kill-Site, "Lilburn's work is richly figurative, but firmly rooted in colloquial speech. He is not only a virtuoso at the linguistic level, taking risks with metaphor and line, but also steeped in a metaphysics of place."
This book title, The House of Charlemagne, ISBN: 9780889775305, by Tim Lilburn, published by University of Regina Press (February 15, 2018) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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