IN THE LAST QUARTER OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY English-Canadian literature has firmly established itself on the international stage — above all in the novel and short-story genre. The production and reception of a national Canadian literature gained significant impetus during the 1960s and 1970s. The process of maturity for Canadian literature was greatly influenced by the cultural atmosphere surrounding the centenary of the Canadian Confederation in 1967, but the process itself had begun much earlier, as is indicated by the active support for Canadian literature by the Canada Council for the Arts from the late 1950s onwards. However, it was only after the celebrations of 1967 that Canadian literature came to be regarded as an expression of national identity. As a result, there was soon talk of a Canadian Literary Renaissance, although in fact it was really more a matter of birth than of rebirth. Commenting on this phenomenon, Walter Pache noted in 1997: “When the centenary of Canadian Confederation came around in 1967, this event was celebrated with a World Exposition in Montreal and the introduction of a new flag: ‘two red bands rampant and a red maple leaf rampant on white, looking like a trademark for margarine of the cheaper variety, or an owl-kill in snow,’ as it is described in Atwood's novel Cat's Eye (1988). Growing national pride and an acerbically ironic internationalism appeared to be the two poles between which Canada's national consciousness alternated.”