Hoaxes and lies
July 09th, 2020
A hoax isn’t always a lie meant to deceive or wound, it can also exert a positive influence argues Heather Jessup in This Is Not a Hoax: Unsettling Truth in Canadian Culture (Wifrid Laurier U. $35.95). Publicity for the book states that hoaxes can be constructive by helping “viewers and readers in re-examining unquestioned institutional trust, habituated cultural hierarchies, and the deeply inscribed racism and sexism of Canada’s settler-colonial history.” Jessup examines hoaxical works from Canadian artists such as Brian Jungen and Rebecca Belmore, and writers and translators David Solway and Erin Moure. She holds a doctorate from the University of Toronto and teaches English at Langara College. Her first novel, The Lightning Field (Gaspereau 2011) was a finalist for the Raddall and Savage Book Awards, and was nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award. She is co-curator and lead director of the Prud’homme Library Project. 978-1-7711-2364-8
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