Duncan Campbell Scott (1862-1947) was a disturbing enigma. A career bureaucrat, he was the overseer of
Canada’s destructive Aboriginal schools policy—but also one of our country’s
important poets. It was natural for Mark Abley, a fine poet
himself as well as socially concerned journalist, to imagine bringing Scott
back to life in order to have a conversation.
The ghost story—or more precisely, a series of interviews with a ghost
visitor—is a superb narrative strategy, injecting humour, irony, and drama into
what could have been a pretty dry slog had Abley simply followed a more conventional research paper format. Abley portrays Scott as a product
of his time, and yet open to persuasion; he contrasts mores, manners, mentality
and even linguistic usage in a way that wouldn’t otherwise have been possible.
An absorbing and delightful read! Highly recommended…
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