The prize for the Best Book in Canadian Studies (2024) has been awarded to Anne Trépanier for De l’hydre au castor (Les éditions du Septentrion). 

Anne Trépanier’s De l’hydre au castor brings an original and insightful perspective to our understanding of the historical shaping of Canada’s national identity. Drawing on extensive resources in imagology, as a study of the stereotypes, myths and illusions in national discourses, Trépanier undertakes a careful examination of the perception of the “Canada to come” as characterized in journalistic texts published between 1844 and 1867 in the four provinces of British North America: Canada East (Quebec), Canada West (Ontario), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. This work brings together writings from a variety of newspapers, both large and small, serious and humourous. These papers express certain recurring thematic concepts and representations which, in various ways, portray the fear and hope sparked by Confederation and the uncertainty that came with it. How should Canadianness be characterized? This book brings forward new ideas for responding to this complex question. In doing so, it succeeds in precisely and effectively underscoring “the major themes of the confederate quilt” in Canada. 

The CSN warmly thanks the committee members for this prize.