The Cambridge Companion to Alice Munro

224 Pages·2016·1.853 MB·English

by  David Staines

the cambridge companion to alice munro
This Companion is a thorough introduction to the writings of the Nobel Prize
winner Alice Munro. Uniting the talents of distinguished creative writers and
notedacademics,DavidStaineshasputtogetheracomprehensive,exploratory
accountofMunro’sbiography,herpositionasafeminist,herevocationoflifein
small-townOntario,hernon-fictionalwritingsaswellashershortstories,and
herartisticachievement.Consideringawiderangeoftopics–includingMunro’s
style,lifewriting,herpersonaldevelopment,andheruseofGreekmyths,Celtic
ballads, Norse sagas, and popular songs – this volume will appeal to keen
readers of Munro’s fiction as well as students and scholars of literature and
Canadianandgenderstudies.
DavidStainesisProfessorofEnglishattheUniversityofOttawa.Ascholarof
medieval culture and literature, as well as Canadian culture and literature, he
has authored or edited more than fifteen books, including The Canadian
Imagination: Dimensions of a Literary Culture, Tennyson’s Camelot: the
IdyllsoftheKinganditsMedievalSources,andTheLettersofStephenLeacock.
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THE CAMBRIDGE
COMPANION TO
ALICE MUNRO
EDITEDBY
DAVID STAINES
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UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridgecb28bs,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107472020
©CambridgeUniversityPress2016
Chapter6,‘LivesofGirlsandWomen:aportraitoftheartistasayoungwoman’by
MargaretAtwood©O.W.ToadLtd2016
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2016
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationData
Names:Staines,David,1946–editor.
Title:TheCambridgecompaniontoAliceMunro/editedbyDavidStaines.
Description:Cambridge;NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2016.|
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:lccn2015038209|isbn9781107093270(Hardback)|
isbn9781107472020(Paperback)
Subjects:lcsh:Munro,Alice,1931—Criticismandinterpretation.
Classification:lccpr9199.3.m8z5762016|ddc813/.54–dc23lcrecordavailableat
http://lccn.loc.gov/2015038209
isbn978-1-107-09327-0Hardback
isbn978-1-107-47202-0Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy
ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
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of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316144831
the cambridge companion to alice munro
This Companion is a thorough introduction to the writings of the Nobel Prize
winner Alice Munro. Uniting the talents of distinguished creative writers and
notedacademics,DavidStaineshasputtogetheracomprehensive,exploratory
accountofMunro’sbiography,herpositionasafeminist,herevocationoflifein
small-townOntario,hernon-fictionalwritingsaswellashershortstories,and
herartisticachievement.Consideringawiderangeoftopics–includingMunro’s
style,lifewriting,herpersonaldevelopment,andheruseofGreekmyths,Celtic
ballads, Norse sagas, and popular songs – this volume will appeal to keen
readers of Munro’s fiction as well as students and scholars of literature and
Canadianandgenderstudies.
DavidStainesisProfessorofEnglishattheUniversityofOttawa.Ascholarof
medieval culture and literature, as well as Canadian culture and literature, he
has authored or edited more than fifteen books, including The Canadian
Imagination: Dimensions of a Literary Culture, Tennyson’s Camelot: the
IdyllsoftheKinganditsMedievalSources,andTheLettersofStephenLeacock.
Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Edinburgh, on 29 Jun 2021 at 09:42:28, subject to the Cambridge Core terms
of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316144831
Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Edinburgh, on 29 Jun 2021 at 09:42:28, subject to the Cambridge Core terms
of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316144831
THE CAMBRIDGE
COMPANION TO
ALICE MUNRO
EDITEDBY
DAVID STAINES
Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Edinburgh, on 29 Jun 2021 at 09:42:28, subject to the Cambridge Core terms
of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316144831
UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridgecb28bs,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107472020
©CambridgeUniversityPress2016
Chapter6,‘LivesofGirlsandWomen:aportraitoftheartistasayoungwoman’by
MargaretAtwood©O.W.ToadLtd2016
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2016
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationData
Names:Staines,David,1946–editor.
Title:TheCambridgecompaniontoAliceMunro/editedbyDavidStaines.
Description:Cambridge;NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2016.|
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:lccn2015038209|isbn9781107093270(Hardback)|
isbn9781107472020(Paperback)
Subjects:lcsh:Munro,Alice,1931—Criticismandinterpretation.
Classification:lccpr9199.3.m8z5762016|ddc813/.54–dc23lcrecordavailableat
http://lccn.loc.gov/2015038209
isbn978-1-107-09327-0Hardback
isbn978-1-107-47202-0Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy
ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Edinburgh, on 29 Jun 2021 at 09:42:28, subject to the Cambridge Core terms
of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316144831
CONTENTS
Notesoncontributors pagevii
Noteoneditionsused ix
Chronology x
Introduction 1
david staines
1 FromWinghamtoClinton:AliceMunroinherCanadiancontext 7
david staines
2 Wheredoyouthinkyouare?PlaceintheshortstoriesofAliceMunro 26
merilyn simonds
3 ThestyleofAliceMunro 45
douglas glover
4 ‘Orangesandapples’:AliceMunro’sundogmaticfeminism 60
maria lo¨schnigg
5 AliceMunroandherlifewriting 79
coral ann howells
6 LivesofGirlsandWomen:aportraitoftheartistasayoungwoman 96
margaret atwood
7 Re-readingTheMoonsofJupiter 116
w.h. new
v
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of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316144831
contents
8 AliceMunroandpersonaldevelopment 136
robert mcgill
9 Thefemalebard:retrievingGreekmyths,Celticballads,Norsesagas,
andpopularsongs 154
he´liane ventura
10 Themotherasmaterial 178
elizabeth hay
Bibliography 193
Index 197
vi
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of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316144831