ABSTRACT
The historical novel was only one of many acts of modernity in the nineteenth century used to address the development of the nation-state. The impact of the historical novel was perhaps more pronounced in French Canada than it was in English Canada. Development of the theatre in late-nineteenth-century Canada was common to English and French Canada but also attuned to cultural context. In Archibald Cameron, Caisse and Laporte highlight a dramatic twenty-four-hour period from the original novel, beginning in the French camp the night before the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. Although the dramatizations of Les anciens Canadiens were specific to time and place, the politics of stage reproduction had a longer history elsewhere. Daniel Terry's near simultaneous production of The Heart of Mid-Lothian, A Musical Drama takes a decidedly different approach. The historical novel provided a foundation for localized dramatizations designed to communicate effectively with upmarket and downmarket audiences in different national contexts throughout the century.
