UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN, TRINITY COLLEGE Explorations of “an alien past”: Identity, Gender, and Belonging in the Short Fiction of Mavis Gallant, Alice Munro, and Margaret Atwood A Thesis submitted to the School of English at the University of Dublin, Trinity College, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Kate Smyth 2019 Declaration I declare that this thesis has not been submitted as an exercise for a degree at this or any other university and it is entirely my own work. I agree to deposit this thesis in the University’s open access institutional repository or allow the library to do so on my behalf, subject to Irish Copyright Legislation and Trinity College Library conditions of use and acknowledgement. ______________________________ Kate Smyth i Table of Contents Summary .......................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iv List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................................... v Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Part I: Mavis Gallant Chapter 1: “At Home” and “Abroad”: Exile in Mavis Gallant’s Canadian and Paris Stories ................ 28 Chapter 2: “Subversive Possibilities”: Gender and Identity in Mavis Gallant’s Riviera and German Stories ............................................................................................................................................... 66 Part II: Alice Munro Chapter 3: “This World is a Wilderness”: Belonging in Alice Munro’s Short Fiction ........................... 109 Chapter 4: “A Watcher not a Keeper”: Gender Identity in Alice Munro’s Short Fiction ..................... 151 Part III: Margaret Atwood Chapter 5: “Survive what?”: Representations of Belonging in Margaret Atwood’s Short Fiction ....... 196 Chapter 6: The “Angel/Whore” binary: Gender Inequality in Margaret Atwood’s Short Fiction ...... 243 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 287 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 293 ii Summary This thesis uses the short fiction of Canadian writers Mavis Gallant, Alice Munro, and Margaret Atwood to explore issues of national identity and gender inequality, arguing that white English-speaking Canadians of British descent have maintained social, cultural, and political hegemony in Canada, and connecting this with the continuation of patriarchal dominance over women from the mid-twentieth century into the twenty-first. While post-colonialism, post- nationalism, and post-feminism have become part of Canadian political and cultural discourse, identity continues to be regulated and inequalities are perpetuated, as these stories are used to demonstrate. The three authors draw on the Canadian Gothic genre to highlight experiences of exile in both urban and rural locations, deconstruct boundaries of self and place, and emphasise how fears about the Other are constructed as threatening to a stable sense of gendered self and home for Settler Canadian characters. This study is divided into three sections and is structured chronologically by author, with two chapters dedicated to each. Within this, for each author, the first chapter deals with issues of national identity and belonging in the stories and the second chapter deals with gender identity. The Introduction outlines the social and political context for the thesis, particularly in relation to discussions of power as integral to national identity and gender inequality. It suggests the importance of the short story form as a conduit for these considerations, particularly regarding the exile as a figure of resistance both to ingrained national identity definitions and gender norms. The Gallant section is structured according to place. Chapter 1 uses Gallant’s Canadian and Paris stories to explore how questions of belonging and perceptions of Settler Canadian identity are bound up with the desire for roots and the experience of nomadism. Through a consideration of 1960s and 1970s Canadian nationalism, it suggests the endurance of a Settler Canadian sense of victimisation. Chapter 2 looks at the Riviera and German stories to demonstrate Gallant’s engagement with learned gender roles during and after the Second World War, particularly with regard to the notion of women as “naturally” caring, nurturing, and kind, and the possibility of challenging ingrained patriarchal norms through behaviours that challenge gender expectations. The Munro section is structured according to theme. Chapter 3 first looks at the house as symbolic of identity and suggests that returning “home” relates to a longing for security and a stable sense of self. The second part explores boundary issues and representations of the wilderness as linked with freedom, based on learned desires for authenticity and legitimacy for Settler Canadians. In Chapter 4, the first part looks at social constructions of femininity and beauty and suggests that Munro’s female characters are used to engage with contemporary feminist discourse, including the depiction of women as victims of male dominance. The second part explores marriage, motherhood, and confinement in domestic space, proposing that gender roles are learned, particularly within the nuclear family. The Atwood section is structured by text in order of publication. The first part of Chapter 5 suggests a link between the house as “home” and the development of Canadian nationalism in relation to Atwood’s collection Dancing Girls. The second part explores the significance of father characters in Bluebeard’s Egg concerning settler colonial legacies in Canada. The third part examines the settler desire for authenticity and legitimacy with regard to constructions of wilderness and civilisation in Wilderness Tips and Moral Disorder. Chapter 6 considers feminist change from Dancing Girls and stories set in the 1960s and 1970s, to Bluebeard’s Egg and the 1980s, and the argument that motherhood is in opposition to women’s freedom and sexuality, to Wilderness Tips and Moral Disorder and ideas of post-feminism in the 1990s and 2000s. It demonstrates how Atwood’s stories can be used to suggest that post-feminism glosses over the continued processes of heteropatriarchal dominance. The Conclusion summarises the findings of the thesis, suggesting ideas for future research and a comparative project with contemporary female Canadian writers. iii Acknowledgements This research has been facilitated through the support of the Irish Research Council, as Well as the Ireland Canada University Foundation and the James M. Flaherty Scholarship. I’m grateful to Trinity College Dublin, especially the staff at the School of English, With particular thanks due to Paul Delaney, Melanie Otto, David O’Shaughnessy, Stephen Matterson, Diane Sadler, and Brenda Brooks. My supervisor, Dr Philip Coleman, has been a consistent source of support and advice throughout this process and has provided guidance and encouragement Whenever I needed it. My thanks also to the staff of Trinity College Library, the University of Toronto Thomas Fisher archive, and the University of Calgary archives. The Trinity Long Room Hub was a great place to work for my final year and I’m thankful to have had that opportunity. I spent two years as a postgraduate rep for the Irish Association for American Studies and am grateful to all the committee members. To my parents, Philip and Geraldine Smyth, for their unwavering support and encouragement. To my brother Darren, whose strength is a source of inspiration to me. To Caroline and Cormac O’Brien, for rescuing me when I needed a place to stay. To Mary Morgan, Audrey and Stephanie Donohue, Rebecca Fitzpatrick, Sarah McArdle, and Emma Heverin, my Glan gang. To Leeann Gallagher and Allison Long, Who taught me a good lesson eight years ago. To Pia Fennell, Kathryn Kyne, and particularly Anna Mullarkey for her support. To my Trinity pals Nora Moroney, Gavin Doyle, Stephen O’Neill, and Ellen Finn (for parkour). To Steve Ellerhoff and Jenny Daly for their friendship. To Eoin McShane as my comms guy, ESF, and co-adventurer. This thesis is dedicated to the memory of Louise Walsh-Delaney. iv List of Abbreviations AM Howells, Coral Ann. Alice Munro. Manchester University Press, 1998. AM Cox, Ailsa. Alice Munro. Northcote House, 2004. AM Dahlie, Hallvard. Alice Munro. ECW Press, 1984. CI May, Charles E. Critical Insights: Alice Munro. Salem, 2013. CP Atwood, Margaret. Curious Pursuits: Occasional Writing; 1970-2005. Virago, 2009. GT Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge, 1990. MA Howells, Coral Ann. Margaret Atwood. St. Martin's, 1996. NSS Munro, Alice. New Selected Stories. Chatto & Windus, 2011. SS Gallant, Mavis. The Selected Stories of Mavis Gallant. Random House, 1996. ST Atwood, Margaret. Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Canadian Literature. Virago. 2004. SW Atwood, Margaret. Second Words: Selected Critical Prose. Anansi, 1982. TBM Munro, Alice. The Beggar Maid. Vintage. 1978. v Introduction (i) In an article