Imagining Care: Responsibility, Dependency, and Canadian Literature

"DeFalco enacts a feminist critique that connects ethical philosophies of care to literary representations of caregiving."

Sirhiy Bilenky, David Eso, Canadian Literature 232 Spint 2017

"Imagining Care is a well-written and well-researched book that considers ethical dilemmas in Canadian literature and argues for a reconsideration of the notion that Canada is unquestionably benevolent…The book is an excellent addition to the corpus of critical work on Canadian literature. It points to ways in which writing in Canada addresses urgent questions on the complexities of ethics and care."

Laura K. Davis, Red Deer College, University of Toronto Quarterly, vol 87 3, Summer 2018

‘It is a fine, thought-provoking, and eminently suggestive study… DeFalco undertakes important work in studying care and its effects – not only those effects necessary and desirable, but also those precarious and perilous-on the many who require care and the many others called on to be their caregivers.’

David Staines, Modern Fiction Studies vol 63:04:2017

“Delving deeply into what Canadian literature teaches us about obligation and love, Amelia DeFalco illuminates the ethical dimensions of care among family and friends. Canadians like to think that how we care distinguishes us from those who live in the U.S. But DeFalco, pointing to the devastating effects of neoliberalism, suggests that the distinction lies more in how our literature interrogates care than in our actions and policies.”

Sally Chivers, Department of English, Trent University

“Imagining Care sits at the nexus of moral philosophy, literary narrative, and pragmatic care manuals in a way that will be helpful not only to literary scholars, but also to readers interested in care as an ethical issue. DeFalco reads carefully and writes beautifully.”

Margery Fee, Department of English, University of British Columbia

“Imagining Care makes a powerful case for the uses of literature to illuminate the complexities of caregiving.”

Susan M. Squier, Julia Brill Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and English, Pennsylvania State University