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THE DILEMMA of CANADIAN MENNONITE STORY-TELLERS In TO WRITE OR TO BELONG: THE DILEMMA OF CANADIAN MENNONITE STORY-TELLERS A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon BY Edna Froese Fa11 1996 Wopyright Edna Froese, 1996. Al1 rights reserved. National Library Bibliothèque nationale of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON KiA ON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada Your 6lir Vorre relerenCB Our file Norre reférence 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, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la fome de microfiche/nlm, 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 thbse. thesis nor substantial extracts f?om it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othenvise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN College of Graduate Studies and Research SUMMARY OF THE DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Edna Froese Department of English Fall 1996 EXAMINrNG COMMITTEE Dr. L. Jaeck ~/-4wmxhWrx~/Dean9sDesignate, Chair College of Graduate Studies and Research Dr. D. Parkinson Graduate Chair, Department of English Dr. D. Carpenter Supervisor, Department of English Dr. P. Denham Department of English Dr. L. Horne Department of English Dr. T. Regehr Department of History Dr. Hildi F. Tiessen Department of English Conrad Grebel College University of Waterloo 200 University Avenue W Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 To Write or To Belong: The Dilemma of Canadian Mennonite Story-Tellers Because Mennonite cornmunities have traditionally valued religious conformity and ethnic solidarity above individual artistic expression, Mennonite writers and their readers have tended to view realistic story-telling as an act of revolt against the community. Criticism has, for the most part, also privileged writing above belonging. My argument in this dissertation is that an historically informed awareness of the dialectic between self and community that is intrinsically part of Mennonite theology makes such an either/or reading of Mennonite narratives rnisleading and incomplete. Accordingly, Chapter One reviews the historical roots of Bussian Mennonite communities in Canada and examines their understanding of the self in light of two views of the individual, Western modernism and more recent social constructionism. Using Weintraub's distinction between personality and individual and Lanham's distinction between rhetorical man and serious man, 1 discuss the nature of the dilemma faced by the Mennonite writer. Chapters Two through Six examine, in roughly chronological order, the various narrative strategies that have allowed writers such as Arnold Dyck, Rudy Wiebe, Al Reimer, Anne Konrad, Armin Wiebe, Doug Reimer, Elizabeth Falk, and Magdalene Falk Redekop, to gain a voice within their own communities. Essentially al1 of these writers choose either to emphasize the ethnic component of Mennonite identity in order to defuse theological objections to the subversive act of writing, or to examine the theological component of Mennonite identity in order to adopt or extend the officially accepted act of prophetic utterance. Either way, Mennonite writers contribute to the continuance of Mennonite community even as they can be accused of undermining it. They do not choose to write or to belo~gso much as they contribute to the shaping of what they belong to, since the community that once resisted artistic expression now needs that expression in order to forge a new and viable identity in a changing urban world. iii In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, 1 agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis. Requests for permission to copy or to make other use of materid in this thesis in whole or part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of English University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N OWO ABSTRACT Becaiise Mennonite communities have traditionally valued religious conformity and ethnic solidarity above individual artistic expression, Mennonite writers and their readers have tended to view realistic story- telling as an act of revolt against the community. Criticisrn has, for the most part, also privileged writing above belonging. My argument in this dissertation is that an historically informed awareness of the dialectic between self and community that is intrinsically part of Mennonite theology makes such an either/or reading of Mennonite narratives misleading and incomplete. Accordingly, Chapter One reviews the historical roots of Russian Mennonite communities in Canada and examines their understanding of the self in light of two views of the individual, Western modernism and more recent social constructionism. Using Weintraub's distinction between personality and individual and Lan ham's distinction between rhetorical man and serious man, I discuss the nature of the dilemma faced by the Mennonite writer. Chapters Two through Six examine, in roughly chronological order, the various narrative strategies that have allowed writers such as Arnold Dyck, Rudy Wiebe, Al Reimer, Anne Konrad, Armin Wiebe, Doug Reimer, Elizabeth Falk, and Magdalene Falk Redekop, to gain a voice within their own communities. Essentially al1 of these writers choose either to emphasize the ethnic component of Mennonite identity in order to defuse theological objections to the subversive act of writing, or to examine the theological componcnt of Mennonite identity in order to adopt or extend the officially accepted act of prophetic utterance. Either way, Mennonite writers contribute to the continuance of Mennonite community even as they can be accused of undermining it. They do not choose to write or to belong so much as they contribute to the shaping of what they belong to, since the community that once resisted artistic expression now needs that expression in order to forge a new and viable identity in a changing urban world. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude, first of all, to my supervisor, Prof. David Carpenter, who gave generously and willingly of his the even during his leave of absence and his sabbatical year. Though we s hared neither ethnic background nor religious convictions, he gave exactly the kind of assistance 1 needed. He had the gift of listening well before asking the shrewd questions that helped me clarify what 1 wanted to Say. Despite the various delays in my three years of work on the dissertation, he spoke only words of encouragement and understanding instead of reproach. His corrections were made tactfully, but 1 soon Iearned the wisdom of bis suggestions. 1 am also indebted to the three gracious people, Dr. Susen Gingell, Dr. W.W. Slights, and Dr. David Parkinson, who serveà as chair of the graduate comrnittee of the English Department during my seven-year sojourn as graduate student. Al1 three gave understanding and support as 1 sought to balance the needs of my family with the demands of academia. Dr. Gingell especially gave continued f riendship and occasional valuable advice even when she was no longer under any officia1 obligation to do so. 1 wish ta offer sincere thanks to mg advisory committee members, Dr. Paul Denham, Dr. Ted Regehr, and Dr. Lewis Horne for their thorough reading of my dissertation. 1 am especially grateful to Dr. Ted Regehr for his valuable suggestions in the initial sbges of my research and his willingness to continue as committee member even during his sabbatical. A special word of thanks is due to Dr. Hildi Tiessen, my external examiner, whose criticism on Mennonite literature 1 encountered at the same time that I first discovered the literature. Her work informed my early evaluation of Mennonite literature and motivated my continued interest. She became a role mode1 for me, demonstrating the possibility of exercising critical judgment without losing buch with the Mennonite ethos. Sincere thanks to the reference librarians of the University of Saskatchewan who c heerf ully and efficiently responded to my unusual requests. A special word of gratitude goes to Victor Wiebe who lent me several valuable, hard-to-find books from his personal library, thereby giving me extra time for reading. I am grateful to the College of Graduate Studies for three years of scholarship, and for the compassion with which they arranged for a necessary leave of absence from studies. 1 am particularly grateful for the year of funding supplied by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Councif of Canada in 1992-93. Further thanks go to my colleagues and friends at St. Thomas More College for their warm underslxnding of the difficult balancing act between good teaching and dedicated graduate student work.
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