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TRANSGRESSIVE PLAY: NARRATIVE STRATEGIES IN THE NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES OF CAROL SHIELDS PATRICIA JOAN MORGAN A thesis subrnitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Programme in English York University North York, Ontario May, 1997 National Library Bibliothèque nationale I*B of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellingtm ûttawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 canada Canada Your fi& VdhB dMW Our fi& None réfémm The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire' prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microfoq vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/^ 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 fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. TRANSGRESSIVE PLAY: N2kWtATIVE STRATEGIES IN THE NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES OF CAROL SHIELDS by Patricia Soan Morgan a dissertation submitted 10 the Faculty of Graduate Studies of York University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of ~ DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY @ 1997 Permissron has been granted ta the Ll8AARY OF YORK UNIVERSITY to lend or seil copies of this dissertation. to the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA to microfilm this dissertation and to lend or seII copies of the film. and to UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS to publish an abstract of this dissertation. The author reserves other publication rights. and neither the dissertation nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's written permission. ABSTRACT Each of Carol Shields' novels, and many of her short stories, have, as one of their focuses, the domestic world. In my study, I have considered the narrative strategies Shields uses to write about this particular space. First, genre blend and the playful use of different genre conventions give readers a new way of thinking about ways of telling stories. In particular, Shields uses the conventions of realisrn, romance, the mystery story, and life writing in interesting blends that complement and contradict one another. Second, Shields pays particular attention to the relationships between characters, rather than the linear flow of events, to tell her stories. Finally, this attention to relationships rather than events makes it possible for Shields to layer the stories of many different characters, happening simultaneously, in order to create a sense of a wider narratsve world for readers. This technique tends to direct readers attention away from the 'main events' of a story, and towards a sense of a larger narrative world that exists just beyond the pages of the text. Al1 three strategies 1 have concentrated on have the effect of forcing readers to be aware of their own expectations when reading texts, and the way they use genre markers and genre ches to anticipate events in a novel. Shields' play with Our expectations creates a dialogue between the text as it exists, and the text we, as readers, thought we were going to read. This study concentrates on Shields novels, considering the first four as two pairs of novels that corment on each other. The last three are treated in separate chapters. A preliminary chapter analyzes a sample of Shields short stories, particularly as they show features that are found in her novels. My focus is on the way Shields writes the domestic world, and the way her particular narrative strategies complement the representation of that world. Each of Shieldsr novels blends several different genres, and, in the process, creates new ways to use old conventions to tell new stories. 1 owe a great debt to many people, who made this project possible. Clara Thomas generously gave me the idea for this study, and was a formidable 'secret weapon" throughout the writing process. John Lennox' supervision has been unfailingly calm and supportive. One could not wish for better teachers, colleagues or friends. Debra Pepler German went before me and 'scouted out' the territory, then walked behind me every step of the way, offering comfort, advice, and a vocal one-woman cheering section. Finally, my husband, Huw, and my children Erin, David and Kate have put up with my anxieties and absences (physical and mental) with great love and forbearance. Thank you all. Transgressive Play: An Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Artful Coincidence - A Play Along the Border 27 Chapter 2: Haunted Suburbia - The Domestic Gothic Revisited Chapter 3: A Tense Pattern - The Happenstance Novels Chapter 4: Reading the MS of Mary Swann Chapter 5: Isnft it Romantic - The Republic of Love Chapter 6: Real Life - The Stone Diaries The Proof of the Pudding Bibliography TRANSGRESSIVE PLAY: AN ImRODWCTION Like a good cook, who can take the most prosaic ingredients - onions, potatoes, carrots, and inexpensive bits of beef - and, with slow simmering, turn thern into a dish that is a sensory delight, Carol Shields writes the domestic world revealed and transformed. Her novels and short stories are deceptive - so easy to read and to understand, so accessible to the casual reader, and yet so full of interesting moments that invite careful reading and reward thoughtful examination. Her award-winning novel The Stone Diaries, is the most recent in a line of carefully crafted works that show a progressive development of ways of representing and of writing the domestic world. A good stew, like a good novel, is more than the sum of its parts, and each time the dish is prepared it benefits from the cookfs previous experiences. Although several critics have contended that Shieldsf work reached an apparent turning point, or apotheosis, with the publication of her short story collection Various Miracles, 1 would suggest that a study of her prose works shows a steady development of a writerfs craft. In this study, 1 will look at the way Shields represents and reveals the domestic world. In particular, 1 am interested in three techniques that give a special flavour to her work. First, genre play, genre blend and genre parody make readers aware of how much our perception of generic clues guides our reading and Our interpretation of texts. In this study, genre parody represents the ironic reversa1 or "upending" of generic conventions. Parodic moments in the novels and short stories are often amusing, but always have an interest in the contrast between the appearance of the generic markers, and the way they are being used, in the text, in opposition to the way these conventions are normally used. A parodic moment, in Shields' writing, has an ironic edge. Genre play, on the other hand, is a manipulation of genre conventions in a more generous spirit that lacks this ironic subtext. Playful moments are joyous, affirrning and open possibilities for increasing knowledge and understanding, while parodic moments, while humorous, are, in varying degrees, corrective. The blending of genres furthers the possibilities of genre play. By taking markers from several genre - mimesis from realism plus the images of female confinement from the gothic, for example - Shields exploits the element of surprise the blend generates to help readers to look at familiar narrative patterns from a different point of view. Secondly, Shields uses an approach to stories that pays particular attention to the relationship between people and stories, rather than to the linear flow of events. In this, she reveals a difference between a domestic world of cycle and a romance world of challenge and accomplishment. In romance, the emphasis is on the development of the protagonist, and his or her growth to maturity. In the domestic world, the emphasis is more likely to be on the way people and events are related to one another. Finally, Shields writes 'in the round'. Her use of relational rather than temporal aspects of lives makes it possible for her to tell about the lives of many characters, happening simultaneously. Readers have a sense of a larger narrative world that exists just beyond the pages of the text they ace reading. This technique depends on the layering of details around an incident that, at first glance, appears to be at the 'centre' of a story. The narrative's interest in the surrounding detail tends to displace the 'mainf event from the centre of the story at the same tirne as it apparently places it there. A sirnilar 4 emphasis on the relationship between stories, and 'writing in the roundr can be found in Alice Munro' s writing. From her first novel, Small Ceremonies, Shields uses the conventions of realism in a new way. In realistic writing, authors use a number of different techniques (including writing about ordinary people, settings and events) to offer events readers will perceive as faithful representations of life, novels that appear to write the world readers are familiar with. Shields blends the verisimilar elements of realistic fiction (ezpecially a style of plot that offers direct cause-and-effect links between events)with more fantastic plot elernerits (particularly coincidence or serendipity). The negotiation between the two gives Shields a place to play with the rnany ways, in 'real life," we attempt to "repackage" unrelated events into a logical narrative form. The very human desire to understand lives (both our own and other peop1e's)as coherent, unified stories with a clear beginning, rniddle and end, and al1 the parts related, is of particular interest to her.

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