The Power of Memory through Object-Metaphors: The Works of Gabrielle Roy A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at George Mason University by Jennifer M. Canning Bachelor of Arts University of Mary Washington, 2007 Director: Paula Ruth Gilbert, Professor Department of Foreign Languages Fall Semester 2013 George Mason University Fairfax, VA This work is licensed under a creative commons attribution-noderivs 3.0 unported license. Copyright 2013 Jennifer M. Canning All Rights Reserved ii DEDICATION This is dedicated to mother, who is my Eveline; my father, who taught me the power of feeling my memories; and Andrew Ilardi, for whom I will forever carry “une étrange nostalgie,” and with whom I spent beautiful time wandering “dans le monde.” iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge and thank the following people for their support, encouragement, critiques, and inspiration: My mother, brother, and father My friends, particularly: Catherine, Kristen, Katherine, Sarah, Mark, Brian and of course, Steve. My committee: Dr. Paula Ruth Gilbert, Dr. Gérard Beck, and Dr. Janine Ricouart My colleagues at The Geo-Institute iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract. ……………………………………………………………………………..…vi Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..…7 Synopses of Texts……………………………………………………………………....15 Chapter I: Clothing……………………………………………………………………...21 Chapter II: Food…………………………………………………………………………41 Chapter III: Household Objects………………………………………………………....53 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………....68 Works Cited and Consulted……………………………………………………………...72 v ABSTRACT THE POWER OF MEMORY THROUGH OBJECT-METAPHORS: THE WORKS OF GABRIELLE ROY Jennifer M. Canning, M.A. George Mason University, 2013 Thesis Director: Dr. Paula Ruth Gilbert This thesis examines the theme of object-metaphors in the works of Gabrielle Roy, specifically how Roy uses these object-metaphors to trigger the memories of the characters in the texts: Bonheur d’occasion, Rue Deschambault, and La Route d’Altamont. Memory is a recurring and important theme in Roy’s works, and throughout the texts, the memories of the characters are stimulated by objects found in daily life. In this thesis, the objects have been classified into the categories of clothing, food, and domestic objects. Upon encountering these objects, both positive and negative memories for the characters Jean Lévesque, Florentine and Rose-Anna Lacasse and Christine are generated. Using primary critics of Gabrielle Roy and drawing on psychoanalytic and memory-based studies, this thesis demonstrates that exposure to these object-metaphors directly impacts the characters’ memories as well as their actions. vi INTRODUCTION I “met” Gabrielle Roy (1909-1983) in 2009 when I studied several of her texts in a Québécois literature course. Immediately, I found myself captivated by her stories, her writing style, and her characters with whom I felt I uniquely identified. The first book I read of Roy’s was La Route d’Altamont [The Road Past Altamont], (first published in 1966.) She wrote so quaintly, told the story so simply yet tenderly, that it felt like she must have taken her characters, especially the mother figure, from my life and not her own. For a moment, early in graduate school, I would have sworn I was the basis for Roy’s character Christine, and not herself! But as I dug deeper, I realized that is the gift of a writer who speaks to every reader, regardless of age, demographic, or socio- economic background. Thus, very early on in my Master’s career, I decided that studying Gabrielle Roy would be the path that I would follow. Part genius, part egoist, part story raconteur and part autobiographer, Gabrielle Roy is one of the best known and most important writers not only of Québécois literature, but also Francophone literature. In 1947, Roy received France’s Prix Femina for Bonheur d’occasion [The Tin Flute], (1945.) Throughout her career, she received many literary awards, including a third Governor General’s Award in 1978 for her last novel, Ces enfants de ma vie [Children of My Heart] (1977). She was the first woman to become a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1947) and was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1967 7 (Zeilig). She is considered amongst literary critics to be a pioneer of specifically Canadian/Québécois social realism, and she is widely known for her humane and sensitive representations of the family structure as well as immigrant culture (Parks Canada). The youngest of a large family, Roy was born in Manitoba on Deschambault Road. Her experiences with her family in her childhood home would profoundly affect her and would be alluded to in many of her works. In 1916, the law mandated that school would be obligatory for children up to the age of fourteen; this in turn “opened up the possibility of education [for] the generation of Manitobans as English-Speaking Canadians” (Chapman 318). As an Anglophone province with French speaking constituents, the Manitoban government mandated a bilingual lifestyle and education: “Roy was a member of Manitoba’s francophone minority, for whom bilingualism was required to survive and succeed in life” (Chapman 318). But, from an early age, the French speaking Roy was very strong in English, possessing the talent of passing between the two languages easily (Chapman 318). With her mother’s urging, she became a teacher. Although she only taught for a few years, her experiences affected her greatly, later inspiring the novel Ces enfants de ma vie. After leaving the teaching profession, Roy moved to Europe and studied theatre. When she returned to Canada in 1939, she found work as a freelance journalist in Montreal (Parks Canada). During her time as a journalist, Roy observed the working class and the conditions in which they lived. She was particularly interested in poverty, social struggle, and the lack of nutrition. Disgusted yet inspired by these deplorable conditions, she 8 published her first novel Bonheur d’occasion, in 1945, which detailed the Francophone workers’ struggles in Montreal during the Second World War. With her linguistic talents, “Roy was able to juxtapose French and English thus depicting the power relations of the two colonial languages” (Chapman 318). Her book won France’s “Prix Femina,” marking the first time a piece of Canadian literature had won this prize (Parks Canada). After her success with Bonheur d’occasion, Roy’s works became more personal and nostalgic, as she took inspiration from her youth and her family, including the experiences of the immigrants coming to Canada (Parks Canada), reflecting the experiences of her own family who had immigrated to Manitoba. Rue Deschambault, [Street of Riches] (1955), named for her childhood house and based upon her youth and her family, as was La Route d’Altamont. Ces enfants de ma vie, which was based on her teaching experiences, won Roy even more literary renown as well as further literary prizes. Her official autobiography, La détresse et l’enchantement, [Enchantment and Sorrow] (1984) was published posthumously and was translated into over fifteen languages, including English, Spanish, and Italian to name just a few. “Roy’s bilingual and bicultural upbringing make her not only a French-Canadian or Quebecois author but a Canadian author who wrote in French and had her works translated into English” (Chapman 318). While Roy passed away in 1984, she is still being lauded to this day. Currently, a monument of more than thirty statues, sculptures, and plaques is being designed and erected by Etienne Gaboury, a retired architect. The different parts of the monument will be built in places mentioned by Roy in her works: Manitoba, France, and even England; 9 “the first monument, which will be set up at Provencher School, is composed of a sculpture and five stainless steel chairs, portraying Roy as a teacher before a classroom” (Zeilig). Other notable places where the monument’s pieces will be displayed include: Roy’s home, the town of Altamont; Deschambault Road; and St. Boniface cathedral. Each part of the monument will have quotations from her works and will be translated into the two official languages of Canada: “We wanted something artistic and contemporary to pay tribute to a woman who was ahead of her time, says Huguette Le Gall,” president of the Gabrielle Roy Literary Committee (Zeilig). Even today, Roy is venerated and celebrated as one of the most influential writers of the Francophone world. While Roy addresses numerous topics in her texts, there are certain consistent themes within the writings of Roy: nature, music, food, clothing, objects, the rapport between mother and daughter, and the role of women, to name just a few. Roy was a feminist, before the second wave of feminism. The first wave of feminism formally began in 1848, at the Seneca Falls Convention, where “300 men and women rallied to the cause of equality for women” (Rampton). The first wave of feminism was initially linked largely to temperance and abolitionist movements, although it went on to question the “cult of domesticity” (Rampton). The second wave of feminism spanned the 1960s to the 1990s and began in Atlantic City with protests against the Miss America pageant: “In this phase, sexuality and reproductive rights were dominant issues, and much of the movement's energy was focused on passing the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing social equality regardless of sex” (Rampton). 10 Roy’s incorporates the feminist concerns that the first wave espoused in her works: “a number of articles have pointed out the centrality of feminist concerns in Roy’s published work, particularly the importance of the mother-daughter relationship” (Green 438). These feminist undertones are consistently present throughout all of these themes, even if they are presented as more of a subtext. Lauded as an author of “realism,” Roy is also a “symbolist,” as she often uses the tools of symbols and metaphors which illuminate the aforementioned prominent themes: “certain hints encoded in the narrative generate possibilities for allegorical interpretations that go beyond the straightforward” (Bell 622).