Canadian Literary Regionalism: Rural Ontario and Manitoba Pariries In the Works of Alice Munro and Margaret Laurence

• Thesis title in Czech: Canadian Literary Regionalism: Rural Ontario and Manitoba Prairies In the Works of Alice Munro and Margaret Laurence
• Thesis title in English: Canadian Literary Regionalism: Rural Ontario and Manitoba Pariries In the Works of Alice Munro and Margaret Laurence
• Key words: kanadská literatura, Kanada, Alice Munro, Margaret Laurence, regionalizmus, kanadský literárny regionalizmus, národní identita v literatuře
• English key words: Canadian literature, Canada, Alice Munro, Margaret Laurence, regionalism, Canadian literary regionalism, national identity
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2015/2016
• Thesis type: Bachelor's thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (21-UALK)
• Supervisor: Mgr. Klára Kolinská, Dr., Ph.D.
• Author: hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept.
• Date of registration: 27.08.2016
• Date of assignment: 30.08.2016
• Administrator's approval: not processed yet
• Confirmed by Study dept. on: 16.12.2016
• Date and time of defence: 30.01.2018 09:00
• Date of electronic submission: 22.05.2017
• Date of proceeded defence: 30.01.2018
• Submitted/finalized: committed by student and finalized
• Opponents: PhDr. Miroslav Jindra

Guidelines

Though some might argue that it disrupts the idea of a homogeneous country, the concept of regionalism is a vital part of Canada's identity that allows us to focus on the peculiarities of
individual regions. Unlike American or British writers, with the exception of a few names, Canadian authors tend to be rather unknown on the global scale. Even then, their works are not known to be
distinctly Canadian, for the portrayal of general Canadian experience is too diverse to capture. This is why many authors resort to regionalism, and writing about the space they know best.
Literary setting creates a bond between the author and the reader, however, reading regional fiction can be a demanding experience for it requires sufficient knowledge of not only the physical
surroundings of the region but also its historical, cultural and mental characteristics. After a theoretical introduction on Canadian literary regionalism, this thesis will focus on two authors and
two regions: Alice Munro's rural Ontario, and Margaret Laurence's prairie Manitoba. The scope of the thesis is furthermore narrowed down by the protagonists - female characters, who often run away from the limits of their small hometowns, only to return later in life. I plan to trace the distinctive features of prairie writing and Southern Ontario gothic; study the importance of place
and origin in constructing the identity of protagonists in Laurence's Manawaka cycle, and both early and later collections of Alice Munro, as well as the importance of regionalism in literature that is
difficult to define on a national scale.

References

Atwood, Margaret. Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature. Toronto: McClelland
a Stewart, 1972.

Berndt, Katrin. "The Ordinary Terrors of Survival: Alice Munro and the Canadian Gothic."
Journal of the Short Story in English 55.2 (2010): 19-35. JSSE.REVUES.ORG
<http://jsse.revues.org/1079>

Cader, Alison; Wardhaugh, Robert, eds. History, Literature and the Writing of the Canadian
Prairies. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2005.

Martin, W. R. Alice Munro: Paradox and Parallel. Edmonton: University of Alberta
Press, 1987

Rasporich, Beverly. Dance of the Sexes: Art and Gender in the Fiction of Alice Munro.
Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1990.

Sowiak, Christine. "Contemporary Canadian Art: Locating Identity"; A Passion for Identity.
Ed. David Taras, Beverly Rasporich. Toronto: Nelson Thompson Learning, 2001.

Smythe, Karen Elizabeth. Figuring Grief: Gallant, Munro and the Poetics of Elegy. Montreal:
McGill-Queen's University Press, 1992

Thomas, Clara. The Manawaka World of Margaret Laurence. Toronto: McClelland and
Stewart, 1975.