[PDF] A Documentary Navigation along the St Lawrence River

215165 Storied Streams of History: A Documentary Navigation along the St. Lawrence River

Myriam Tremblay-Sher

A Thesis

In the Department

of

Communication Studies

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy (Communication) at

Concordia University

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

October 2018

© Myriam Tremblay-Sher, 2018

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

This is to certify that the thesis prepared

By: Myriam Tremblay-Sher

Entitled: Storied Streams of History: A Documentary Navigation along the St. Lawrence River and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy (Communication)

complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality.

Signed by the final examining committee:

__________________________________________________Chair

Dr. Catherine Russell

__________________________________________________External Examiner

Dr. Brenda Longfellow

__________________________________________________External to Program

Dr. Steven High

__________________________________________________Examiner

Dr. Matt Soar

__________________________________________________Examiner

Dr. Tamara Vukov

__________________________________________________Thesis Supervisor

Dr. Monika Kin Gagnon

Approved by ____________________________________________________________

Dr. Jeremy Stolow, Graduate Program Director

November 27, 2018 _______________________________________________________ Dr. André Roy, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science iii

ABSTRACT

Storied Streams of History: A Documentary Navigation along the St. Lawrence River

Myriam Tremblay-Sher, Ph.D.

Concordia University, 2018

The St. Lawrence River forms one of the most important inland waterways on the planet. It also has had a determining impact on history and the peoples along its shores. The river carries memories, attachments, and legacies flowed over centuries. This research-ʊ of place in shaping relations to history as inspired by the St. Lawrence River. The thesis combines theorizations of place from socio-geographic and philosophic study, as elaborated principally by Doreen Massey and Edward S. Casey, with theoretical and practical advancements of interactive web documentary and of the essay film from film studies. It then builds on these theories of place as eveʊas an agent of shifting relations through time and spaceʊand of documentary representation by applying them to the St. Lawrence River. In so doing, it elaborates the conceptual frames of place, boundary, and navigation. These frameworks are broadened in the filming, editing, and presentation of a documentary that features the voices and insights of an artist, an adventurer, an environmentalist, a writer, a teacher and an historian who have all encountered the river and have also been shaped by it. The thesis concludes that the theories of place developed by Massey, Casey, and others can creatively blend with storytelling by the river, deepening understandings of history and ways of engaging the place-event known as the St. Lawrence. iv

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Joseph- Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship, the Concordia University Graduate Fellowship, and the Faculty of Arts and Science Award for their generous financial support. This research-creation would not have been possible without the support of the Communication Studies department faculty. I am especially grateful to my supervisor, Monika Gagnon, for her guidance and perspective, compelling me to get out of my head, to critically inquire, and to see the bigger picture. On this journey of questioning, your outlook has been invaluable. I also wish to express my sincerest thanks to Liz Miller for inspiring us to pursue both research and creation with passion and care. I would like to thank my thesis committee, for their generous time and attention, orienting the contribution a Ph.D. student can hope to make. Dr. Brenda Longfellow, Dr. Steven High, Dr. Tamara Vukov, and Dr. Matt Soar, your insights and feedback were enlightening and have spawned new reflections on how to advance knowledge from research-creation. Storied Streams of History: A Documentary Navigation along the St. Lawrence River

Myriam Tremblay-Sher

A Thesis

In the Department

of

Communication Studies

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy (Communication) at

Concordia University

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

October 2018

© Myriam Tremblay-Sher, 2018

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

This is to certify that the thesis prepared

By: Myriam Tremblay-Sher

Entitled: Storied Streams of History: A Documentary Navigation along the St. Lawrence River and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy (Communication)

complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality.

Signed by the final examining committee:

__________________________________________________Chair

Dr. Catherine Russell

__________________________________________________External Examiner

Dr. Brenda Longfellow

__________________________________________________External to Program

Dr. Steven High

__________________________________________________Examiner

Dr. Matt Soar

__________________________________________________Examiner

Dr. Tamara Vukov

__________________________________________________Thesis Supervisor

Dr. Monika Kin Gagnon

Approved by ____________________________________________________________

Dr. Jeremy Stolow, Graduate Program Director

November 27, 2018 _______________________________________________________ Dr. André Roy, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science iii

ABSTRACT

Storied Streams of History: A Documentary Navigation along the St. Lawrence River

Myriam Tremblay-Sher, Ph.D.

Concordia University, 2018

The St. Lawrence River forms one of the most important inland waterways on the planet. It also has had a determining impact on history and the peoples along its shores. The river carries memories, attachments, and legacies flowed over centuries. This research-ʊ of place in shaping relations to history as inspired by the St. Lawrence River. The thesis combines theorizations of place from socio-geographic and philosophic study, as elaborated principally by Doreen Massey and Edward S. Casey, with theoretical and practical advancements of interactive web documentary and of the essay film from film studies. It then builds on these theories of place as eveʊas an agent of shifting relations through time and spaceʊand of documentary representation by applying them to the St. Lawrence River. In so doing, it elaborates the conceptual frames of place, boundary, and navigation. These frameworks are broadened in the filming, editing, and presentation of a documentary that features the voices and insights of an artist, an adventurer, an environmentalist, a writer, a teacher and an historian who have all encountered the river and have also been shaped by it. The thesis concludes that the theories of place developed by Massey, Casey, and others can creatively blend with storytelling by the river, deepening understandings of history and ways of engaging the place-event known as the St. Lawrence. iv

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Joseph- Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship, the Concordia University Graduate Fellowship, and the Faculty of Arts and Science Award for their generous financial support. This research-creation would not have been possible without the support of the Communication Studies department faculty. I am especially grateful to my supervisor, Monika Gagnon, for her guidance and perspective, compelling me to get out of my head, to critically inquire, and to see the bigger picture. On this journey of questioning, your outlook has been invaluable. I also wish to express my sincerest thanks to Liz Miller for inspiring us to pursue both research and creation with passion and care. I would like to thank my thesis committee, for their generous time and attention, orienting the contribution a Ph.D. student can hope to make. Dr. Brenda Longfellow, Dr. Steven High, Dr. Tamara Vukov, and Dr. Matt Soar, your insights and feedback were enlightening and have spawned new reflections on how to advance knowledge from research-creation.