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Accordion Crimes The Quest for Identity:. - O - -. \ .- Detining the "Self" in Two Novels by-Anni~Prouh --..__ __- - A Thesis Presented to the Department of ~nglish La kehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario In partial fulfillment of the requirernents for the degree of Master of Arts Anna Martikainen Oc National Library Bibliothèque nationale If of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et BibEographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaON K1AON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Librq of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distnbute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfonn, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nIm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be p~tedor otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. For my parents. Thank you for al1 your love and support, and for giving me the courage to snive afrer my dreams. "Gatsby believed in the green Zight, the orgiasticjùture fhatyear by year recedes before zis. It eluded us then but that's no matter-tomorrow we will run fmrer, stretch out our armsfarther .. .And one fine morning- So we beat on, boats againsi rhe cuvent, borne back ceeselessly into the put. " F. Scott Fitzgerald "T'th is no? born nor is ir to be found hide the head of an individual person. if is born between people coZZectively seorchingfor truth, in the process of their diaZogrgrc interaction. " Mikhail Bakhtin Table of Contents Abstract Acknowledgements iii Chapter 1 1 "Introducing the Quest" Chapter 2 "Untying the Knots: ne Shipping News" Chapter 3 "Listen to the Music: Accordion Crimes" Chapter 4 "Colouring the Quest" Works Cited Abstract The idea of the "self" as an autonomous whole is no longer sufficient in contemporary discussions of identity. Individuals are "subjects," defining themselves against and through other subjects and their enviroments. A definitive self is impossible to achieve-the process is ongoing, fluid, and relational, without a final destination. The focus of this thesis is an examination of the quest for identity in two novels by Annie Proulx-The Shipping News and .kcordion Crimes. To facilitate this discussion of the quem for identity, 1 employ the writings of t Mikhail Bakhtin, and of the dialogic cntics that. he has influenced. The notion of "dialogue," in its broadest sense, reveals that the quest for identity is not a solitary quest. Each questor is a product of bis or her sunoundings, and these sunoundings shape the quest. The quest for identity is a dialogue with place, including both the environment and the people within it. The situatedness of the quest for identity is also compounded by tirne. Bakhtin's notion of the "chronotope" ("tirne-place") further extends the interco~ectednessof the quests for identity. Characters are dialogically related to each other through tirne, as past, present, and future quests intersect. Al1 of these aspects illustrate the inconclusivity of the quest for identity. Chapter 1, "Introducing the Quest," outlines the critical framework that 1 use throughout my thesis. 1 explore Bakhtin's notions of "polyphony," "dialogue," 'ccamivalesque," and "chronotope," and explain the5 relevance both to Proulx's novels and to the quest for identity. Chapter 2, "Untying the Knots: The Shipping News," applies this fhmework to rite Shipphg News. 1 focus primarily on Quoyle's quest for identity, though the quests of the other characters in the novel are important in the dialogic model 1 employ. To structure this chapter. the "knots of narrativey'~cture,place, and relationships-are shown to be central to defining the quest for identity. Chapter 3, "Liaen to the Music: Accordion Crimes," discusses Proulx's depiction of the immigrant experience in Amencê This novel is different fiom The Shipping News in that the protagonist is not a human questor but a green button accordion. As the accordion moves through its various owners, many perspectives of the quest for identity are presented. 1 use the metaphor of the 'Wunfinished symphony" to examine this novel, emphasizing the polyphony of üie text, as well as the unfinalitability of the subject. Chapter 4, "Colouring the Quest," brings these two novels together and summarizes their similarities and differences by cornparhg the major symbols of each novel-the green house in The Shipping News and the green button accordion in Accordion Crimes, iii I I l Acknowledgements f j Hdeltthanks to the following people, dl of who helped me, in various ways, to attain the goal of my quest. To Dr. W.G. Heath, my thesis advîsor, for undertaking this project with me. You allowed me the fieedom to develop my ideas, while oflering sormd advice and constructive crîticimi at every step dong the way. To Dr. Kim Fedderson, for serving as my intemd reader. The past two years as your teaching assistant have been very rewarding fcr me, and 1 hope to convey the same passion and enthusiasm for teaching and learnulg in my friture teaching endeavours. To Dr. Noreen Golfman, for serving as my extemal reader, as well as introducing me tc An.nie Proulx at the 1997 Leameds Conference in St. John's, Newfoundland. To Dr. kanette Lynes, who fm exposed me to the writings of Mikhail Bakhtin. Without that, this thesis would have been totally different. I To Barbara, Doris, and Chns, rny fellow graduate students. As we go our separate ways, 1 am comforted by the many mernories 1 have of the past year. 1 would like to thank al1 of you for believing in me, for listening to my incessant "thesis speak," and most of ail, for being wonderfid friends. Finally, a huge thank you to my farnily and fnends. 1 could not have done this without your support, encouragement, and patience. Chapter 1 Introducing the Ouest "Ourconceptions of who we are never include all that we are anyway...we shd cal2 ourselves by many names. Our metaphors of seifcannot then rest in srasis, but will gZory Ni dz@ererce and overfow into everything that belongs to us. ?' (McDowell82$) The concept of "identity" has been under reconstruction in recent years. With the nse of liteq theuries (post-structuralist, Manllst, feminist, and post-colonial, for example) that question and challenge the idea of a centre, the notion of identity as a fixed, autonomous self, has been re-examined. Identity can no longer be defined solely in terms of one's individual attributes, but rather as relational, a dynamic interaction between 'self" and "other." Identity is not an isolated result or product, but aprocess that involves many different elements. This revised concept of identity as a process is central to my thesis. How does one quest for a self that is constituted through relation? The idea of a que3 b~gsto mind an adventure, a search, in hopes of a reward. Traditionally, questors travel to aownlands (on their own), meet strange people, and by the end of their adventure, corne to an understanding of themselves. In the sense of personal insight and growth, "quest" is a.appropriate term for my study, as the subjects we meet, 1 argue, are searching for their identity (whether it be a conscious or unconscious search), and most have lefi their homes for unknown temtories in that search. In these quests, however, the questors are not alone-their quests are intimately connected to the other quests happening, simultaneously and interactively, around them. The self-in-progress is the "goal" of the quest, although a definitive end is never reached. The conclusion of each novel is only a new beginning, as the search for selfis never-ending. Two novels by Annie Proulx-The Shipping News and Accordion Crimes-are the focus of this study. By examining the quests for identity of the various characters that people these texts, 1 will show that identity is not a stagnant, stable entity, constant through time. There can be no "self" without a."other9'-"to 'make' one's self, or at least to make one's self a single entity, is impossible, for al1 selves are multiple, divided, fragmented, and a part of a greater whole" (Rigney 39). The characters that we, as readen, meet Uuoughout the novels are on a quest, both literal and figurative, for their identity. The style and structure, as well as the characters, relationships, events, and setting of the novels, intensify and depict their quests. A paradox evolves out of my study. The quest for identity that 1 am defining is a quest for something fluid and indeterminate, resisting absolute def~tion.As the opening paragraphs have already shown, "identity" is a multi-faceted entity. The sense of "identity" that I want to invoke is one that also takes into consideration context and history. This sense of identity is elusive, "unfinalized," making definition impossible. My study illuminates and celebrates this etemal quest for identity. The writings of Mikhail Bakhtin, and of the dialogic critics he has influenced, form the dominant perspective of my study. They use "dialogue" as the mode of expressing identity. Moments of relation exist in dialogue and these moments of relation constitute identity. Dialogue, although not limited to verbal speech, is compnsed of "an utterance, a reply, and a relation between the two" (Holquist 38).
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