The Contemporary Leonard Cohen: Reappraisal and Criticism in Canada and Abroad

The Authority File

In the third episode of this four-part series, our guests explore the reappraisal of Cohen in their coedited volume The Contemporary Leonard Cohen: Response, Reappraisal, and Rediscovery. Kait Pinder (Acadia University) and Joel Deshaye (Memorial University) discuss the artist’s legacy in Canada, and how negative views of his homeland in works like Beautiful Losers complicate that relationship. They chat about Cohen as a postmodern literary figure, his place in the Canadian cultural canon, and his impact on Jewish communities in Montreal. Further, Kait and Joel zoom out to look at Cohen’s influence outside of Canada and why they wanted to include international perspectives in the book. To close, our guests explain the critical lens the volume applies to Cohen and the self-criticism Cohen imposed on himself and career.

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