Canada has always been associated with its landscape, with a vast and inviolate
nature, including prairies, forests with innumerable lakes, idyllic mountain ranges
and the Arctic barrens in the far north. With an area of almost 10 million square
kilometers, Canada is the second largest country in the world, but with only 31
million people living there and a population density of 3,2 inhabitants per square
kilometer, it is also the less populated.1
The theme of nature and wilderness has also been reflected throughout Canadian
literary tradition. As Canadian author Aritha van Herk notes, "[t]he impact of
landscape on artist and artist on landscape is unavoidable" (1992, 139). Adopting the
northern concepts of early explorers and settlers, most literature about the Canadian
wilderness has been written by male authors. For a long time, the Canadian North
served as background for historical romances and adventure stories. The response to
the landscape was often very negative, the wilderness was described as being hostile
and dangerous. Parallel to that image, the landscape was portrayed in female terms,
as being innocent, inviolate and beautiful – the Canadian North appeared as a femme
fatale. Especially in its beginnings, Canadian literature was strongly influenced by its
American and British predecessors and the early writers reinforced the myth of the
Canadian North. In the early twentieth century, the North was mainly a place of
retreat for the fictive heroes of the South who went from the city to the wilderness to
find themselves. One of the most famous texts of this time is Frederick Philip
Grove's autobiography In Search of Myself (1946). His journey to the North became
a synonym for the search of the own self.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Canadian North
3. The North in Early Exploration Literature
4. The Significance of Nature in Canadian Literature
4.1 Literary Representations before the 1960s
4.2 The Renaissance of the Northern Myth
4.3 Women Entering the Canadian Wilderness
5. Representations of Women and Nature in Contemporary Canadian Literature
5.1 Margaret Atwood's Surfacing
5.2 Marian Engel's Bear
5.3 Joan Barfoot's Abra
5.4 Aritha van Herk's The Tent Peg
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography
Research Objectives and Themes
This thesis examines the shifting representations of nature and the Canadian wilderness in contemporary Canadian women's literature, specifically analyzing how female protagonists navigate and redefine their relationship with these landscapes as a means to achieve self-discovery and agency, in contrast to traditional patriarchal depictions.
- The historical construction of the Canadian North as a male-dominated, "hostile" wilderness.
- The evolution of "women-in-the-wilderness" writing from the 1970s onwards.
- Comparative analysis of how specific female protagonists in selected novels reconcile with their past and nature.
- The intersection of ecofeminism, identity formation, and the subversion of colonial "Nordist" myths.
Excerpt from the Book
5.1 Margaret Atwood's Surfacing
As Ronald B. Hatch notes in his article Margaret Atwood, the Land, and Ecology, “[m]ention the name of Margaret Atwood to students of Canadian literature, and one of the first associations is likely to be with the land” (180). Although she has also written texts that do not focus that much on nature and wilderness, Margaret Atwood is most famous for her works that deal with the Canadian landscape, such as The Journals of Susanna Moodie (1970), Survival (1972), Surfacing (1972), or her more recent critical study Strange Things: The Malevolent North in Canadian Literature (1995). Hatch rightly states that “of all Atwood's novels, the one that deals most thoroughly with the land is Surfacing [...]” (190). It was groundbreaking and influenced many Canadian women writers and their works about female characters in the wilderness. As Allison Mitcham points out in The Northern Imagination, “[i]n Surfacing Margaret Atwood's female protagonist [...] is the first woman character in contemporary Canadian fiction to precipitate a northern venture and to hold the reins of the undertaking” (95).
The novel tells the story of a nameless woman who goes on a journey to search for her lost father on her home island in Quebec. The woman, who is also the “I” narrator of the story, is accompanied by her lover Joe and her two friends David and Anna. The journey turns out to be not only a physical journey but also a psychological quest to her past and her own self. The wilderness of the remote island finally helps her to find “a way to heal the split within her own psyche, thereby restoring her emotional and spiritual health” (Howells 1996, 25).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the historical association of Canada with its landscape and the emergence of women's writing that contests traditional male-defined perspectives of the wilderness.
2. The Canadian North: Defines the Canadian North both as a physical geographical reality and as a constructed myth of "Nordism" that has influenced colonial and literary perceptions.
3. The North in Early Exploration Literature: Analyzes how early explorer accounts established the North as a hostile, masculine "monster" to be conquered, setting a precedent for later literary traditions.
4. The Significance of Nature in Canadian Literature: Reviews the scholarly development of literary representations of nature, focusing on the transition from traditional romanticism and survival themes to contemporary feminist perspectives.
5. Representations of Women and Nature in Contemporary Canadian Literature: Examines specific works by Margaret Atwood, Marian Engel, Joan Barfoot, and Aritha van Herk to illustrate how contemporary female authors redefine the relationship between women and nature.
6. Conclusion: Synthesizes findings, emphasizing that these authors successfully subvert traditional male hegemony and present the wilderness as a space for female self-realization.
7. Bibliography: Lists the primary literary texts and the extensive body of secondary scholarly literature used to support the thesis.
Key Terms
Canadian literature, women's writing, wilderness, Canadian North, ecofeminism, identity, survival, Nordism, exploration literature, self-discovery, patriarchy, mythology, shamanism, landscape, agency.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this thesis?
The work focuses on how contemporary Canadian women writers represent the relationship between women and nature, specifically looking at how they challenge traditional male-dominated perceptions of the Canadian wilderness.
Which authors are analyzed in the study?
The study primarily analyzes works by Margaret Atwood, Marian Engel, Joan Barfoot, and Aritha van Herk.
What is the primary research question?
The thesis seeks to answer what happens to the concept of the "North" when female characters, rather than traditional male explorers, encounter the northern landscape.
What methodology is used?
The author uses a literary-analytical approach, incorporating concepts from ecofeminism, cultural history, and post-colonial literary criticism to analyze the primary texts.
What does the main body of the work cover?
It moves from definitions of the Canadian North and early exploration accounts to a thematic survey of nature in literature, culminating in detailed analyses of four novels regarding their subversion of patriarchal myths.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
The work is characterized by terms like Canadian literature, ecofeminism, self-discovery, wilderness, and the subversion of patriarchal myths.
How does the author treat the concept of "Nordism"?
The author follows Petra Wittke-Rüdiger's adaptation of Edward Said's "Orientalism," defining "Nordism" as a European way of perceiving, controlling, and exploiting the Canadian North through constructed "realities" rather than neutral observation.
How does the role of the "bear" function in Marian Engel's novel?
The bear serves as a mediator and mirror for the protagonist, helping her transcend the male/female dichotomy and achieve a unique, transformative self-realization that is both spiritual and sexual.
What role does the "tent peg" play in Aritha van Herk's novel?
The tent peg acts as a powerful symbol of the destruction of male hegemony and is used by the protagonist to stake her own claim, representing self-knowledge and an active takeover of a previously male-dominated space.
What is the significance of the "mirror scenes" in these novels?
Mirror scenes, as noted by the author, are frequent in women-in-the-wilderness literature, marking pivotal moments where the female protagonist visually confirms that she has been fundamentally altered by her experience in nature.
- Quote paper
- Corinna Thömen (Author), 2008, Representations of Women and Nature in Canadian Women's Writing, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/121786
