Impressions

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A summer series from the early 1970s, each week of Impressions featured Ramsay Cook in conversation with a prominent Canadian. The CBC Digital Archives has selected nine episodes from the series featuring rare and unfiltered conversations with some of Canada's most creative people. The producer of Impressions was Judith Walle, and the executive producer Ain Soodor.

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Impressions of Northrop Frye

Broadcast Date: Sept. 2, 1973

"The more lively your sense experience is, the more alive your are." In this rare interview, Northrop Frye talks to Ramsay Cook about his unique ideas regarding theology and literature, two of his disciplines. He also discusses the nature of education and the importance of teaching students to commit to their work without "pushing them". Frye also talks about his roots growing up in New Brunswick, the importance of mythology and Canadian nationalism.

Impressions of Northrop Frye

• Northrop Frye was born in Sherbrooke, Que., in 1912. His early years were spent in Moncton, N.B. He died in Toronto in 1991.

• Frye was professor of English at Victoria College, University of Toronto, for nearly 50 years.

• His first book, Fearful Symmetry, about the prophetic works of William Blake, was published in 1947. It is considered a remarkable study that looked at Blake's use of a regular pattern of symbolism closely reflecting ideas and images in the Bible. At the time, these ideas about Blake were considered difficult to unravel.

• In 1982, Frye published one of his most famous studies, The Great Code. It was a book that examined the Bible as providing the symbolic underpinnings of Western literature, particularly from a structural point of view.

• In 1988, Victoria College opened the Northrop Frye Centre dedicated to students interested in researching the humanities and the collected works of Frye.

Impressions of Northrop Frye

Medium: Television

Program: Impressions

Broadcast Date: Sept. 2, 1973

Guest(s): Northrop Frye

Interviewer: Ramsey Cooke

Duration: 26:35

Last updated:
Jan. 28, 2009

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Media	Title and date	Description
Television 5:04	Sept. 1, 1974 Michel Tremblay: a high school dropout	Tremblay on why he decided to leave school.
Television 26:06	Sept. 1, 1974 Michel Tremblay, Canada Reads author	32-year-old Michel Tremblay gives a long, thoughtful interview to Ramsay Cook.
Television 25:45	July 14, 1974 Hubert Aquin, a 'writer against his will'	CBC-TV's Impressions hosts novelist Hubert Aquin.
Television 25:21	July 7, 1974 Impressions of Claude Jutra	Ramsay Cook talks to one of Canada's best storytellers, filmmaker Claude Jutra.
Television 26:19	Sept. 23, 1973 Impressions of Allan King	Canadian documentary filmmaker Allan King talks about his unique style of making movies, known as "direct cinema".
Television 26:15	Sept. 16, 1973 Impressions of Veronica Tennant	In this conversation from 1973, Veronica Tennant talks about her life as prima ballerina as a member of the National Ballet of Canada.
Television 26:35	Sept. 2, 1973 Impressions of Northrop Frye	In this rare conversation from 1973, Northrop Frye talks about his unique approach to literary criticism.
Television 26:54	Aug. 19, 1973 Impressions of Arthur Erickson	In this rare interview from 1973, Canadian architect Arthur Erickson talks about design, environment and tradition in his trade.
Television 26:50	Aug. 3, 1973 Impressions of George Grant	Canadian philosopher George Grant talks about his unique way of looking at the world in this conversation with Ramsay Cook.
Television 24:42	July 22, 1973 Impressions of Margaret Atwood	In this interview from 1973, author Margaret Atwood talks about her writing career and the struggles of Canadian literature to find its own identity.
Television 26:47	July 8, 1973 Impressions of Robertson Davies	Literary great Robertson Davies reflects on being Canadian, writing and life at Massey College.

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Impressions

Impressions of Northrop Frye

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