This work offers a comparative study of nineteenth-century English-Canadian and French-Canadian novel prefaces, an unexplored literary topic. It adheres to a specific literary framework and methodology, necessitating a structured approach to the research and presentation of Canadian novel prefaces. The study begins by hypothesizing that the preface of these novels constitutes a distinct genre. This hypothesis is supported by a taxonomical survey of terms related to "preface," an examination of secondary literature on the subject, a discussion of the Empirical Theory of Literature's theoretical framework and methodology, and the compilation process of the corpus of nineteenth-century Canadian novel prefaces (Chapter one). Subsequently, the theoretical postulate will be applied through the development of a preface typology (Chapter two). The study will then test further tenets of the Empirical Theory of Literature on the prefaces (Chapter three). Finally, the prefaces will be analyzed according to the principles established by the systemic framework applied (Chapter four). This comprehensive approach aims to illuminate the significance and characteristics of the preface genre within the context of Canadian literature.
