Instead, he believed that human beings needed to be reformed, and one way to do that was through humor. Above all he rejected American-style materialism, with its amoral philosophy of rampant individualism and absence of any sense of responsibility for others. He thus rejected both socialist radicalism, with its optimistic assumptions about human nature, and the rigid conservatism that denied there were social problems or any need to address them.
As a consequence some have labeled him a "genial humorist" or "ironist." What we have to determine is the stance of the narrator: to what extent does the narrator of these two works ridicule and disdain the characters, and to what extent does he nevertheless identify with them?Īccording to Gerald Lynch, Leacock was a Tory humanist he believed in the maintenance of social order but also the need for social reform. Leacock certainly attacks characters and their flaws in his fiction, but he does so in such a gentle way that he cannot be considered a descendent of writers of Juvenalian satire like Jonathan Swift and Rabelais. One question often asked of Leacock's work, especially Sunshine Sketches, is whether it can best be classified as humorous, ironic, or satiric. While he wrote numerous volumes-mostly collections of humor as well as essays and books on history, economics, and political science-it is these two works of fiction that secured his reputation and continue to be widely read. Stephen Leacock is best known for two short story cycles, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town and Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich. Legate, 1970 Leacock by Robertson Davies, 1970 Leacock: A Reappraisal edited by David Staines, 1986 Leacock: Humour and Humanity by Gerald Lynch, 1988.* * * Cameron, 1967 Leacock: A Biography by David M. Curry, 1959 Faces of Leacock: An Appreciation by D.A. Leacock, Humorist and Humanist by Ralph L. Leacock: A Check-List and Index of His Writings by Gerhard R. 1934.Įditor, The Greatest Pages of American Humor. 1993.Įditor, The Greatest Pages of Dickens. The Boy I Left Behind Me (autobiography). While There Is Time: The Case Against Social Catastrophe. 1940.Ĭanada: The Foundations of Its Future. Our British Empire: Its Structure, Its History, Its Strength. My Discovery of the West: A Discussion of East and West in Canada. 1930.īack to Prosperity: The Great Opportunity of the Empire Conference. 1920.Įconomic Prosperity in the British Empire. Malo: A Chronicle of the Voyages of Jacques Cartier. 1907 revised edition, as Mackenzie, Baldwin, LaFontaine, Hincks, 1926. 1906 revised edition, 1921.īaldwin, Lafontaine, Hincks: Responsible Government.
Hellements of Hickonomics in Hiccoughs of Verse Done in Our Social Planning Mill. Q, with Basil Macdonald Hastings (produced 1915). Too Much College or, Education Eating Up Life. Model Memoirs and Other Sketches from Simple to Serious. The Dry Pickwick and Other Incongruities. The Iron Man and the Tin Woman, with Other Such Futurities. Winsome Winnie and Other New Nonsense Novels. The Hohenzollerns in America, with the Bolsheviks in Berlin and Other Impossibilities.
1914.įurther Foolishness: Sketches and Satires on the Follies of the Day. 1913.Īrcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich. 1912.īehind the Beyond, and Other Contributions to Human Knowledge. Social Criticism: The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice and Other Essays. The Feast of Stephen: An Anthology of Some of the Less Familiar Writings of Leacock, edited by Robertson Davies. D.H.L.: Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1920. Litt.D.: Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 1917. Awards: Lorne Pierce medal, 1937 Governor-General's award, for non-fiction, 1937. Career: Teacher, Uxbridge High School, 1889 teacher, Upper Canada College, 1889-99 teacher, University of Chicago, 1899-1903 lecturer in political science, 1903-06, associate professor of political science and history, 1906-08, William Dow Professor of political economy and head of the department of political science and economics, 1908-36, professor emeritus, 1936-44, McGill University, Montreal Rhodes Trust lecturer, on tour of British empire, 1907-08 gave lecture tour of England, 1921. Family: Married Beatrix Hamilton in 1900 (died 1925), one son. in modern languages 1891 University of Chicago, 1899-1903, Ph.D. Education: Upper Canada College, Toronto, until 1887 University of Toronto, 1887, and part-time 1888-91, B.A. Born: Swanmore, Isle of Wight, Hampshire, England, 30 December 1869 moved to Canada with his family, 1876.
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