As the first in-depth study of what the recreational cottage means at a personal, social and cultural level to those who are so passionately committed to it, Trent University professor Dr. Julia Harrison’s new book, A Timeless Place: The Ontario Cottage, provokes reflection on the implicit assumptions about what it really takes to be an Ontario cottager. 

Drawing on research with cottagers in Haliburton County, A Timeless Place examines central assumptions about the Ontario cottage experience that lead to its championing as the quintessentially ‘Canadian’ experience, as a place of unending, yet pleasurable labour - at least for men.

“In order to embrace the cottage one has to be disciplined to know how ‘to be’ there and to understand it is a place where treasured memories are archived and deep familial bonds are forged,” said Professor Harrison. Arguing that cottage ownership presumes certain class and cultural lineages, Prof. Harrison’s book questions what the future of life at the cottage will look like as the economic stability, demographics and cultural heritage of Ontarians changes.

Prof. Harrison is a professor of Anthropology at Trent University and conducts research on the nature of the tourist interaction and experience. Her previous book, Being a Tourist, explored the meaningfulness of travel for those who regularly travel internationally for pleasure. Prior to joining the faculty at Trent, she had a career in the museum field in Canada and Australia, has been president of the Canadian Anthropology Society between and is currently on the executive of the Canadian Studies Network Réseau d’études canadiennes. At Trent she has chaired the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Women’s Studies and also served as director of the Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies for four years.

Posted on Wednesday, December 4, 2013.