“Women writers are in the worst position. They do less well with publishers' advances. They are shortlisted for and win fewer prizes – not because they're less talented, but because of entrenched patterns of how to see and read literature, what subjects may be considered 'serious'”.
Janice Galloway's words are a sad fact: In spite of last century's female emancipation there is still an imbalance of literature by men and women. The majority of published authors are male, only a few women writers are well-known as producers of strong literary work (or rather known at all).
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
1. Janice Galloway: Life and Vision
2. Contents of the Term Paper
II. Textual Strategies: The Trick Is to Keep Breathing and Foreign Parts
1. Narrative Structure and Point of View
2. Text-in-text Concepts
III. The Outsides and Insides of Joy and Cassie
1. Exploring the Protagonists
a. Outer Appearance
b. Behaviour
c. Trauma and Identity
2. Analysing the Surroundings
a. Men
b. Mother
c. Friends
d. Freedom
3. Finding the Tricks to Survive
a. To Keep on Breathing
b. To Enter Foreign Parts
IV. Summary
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This term paper examines the protagonists Joy Stone and Cassie from Janice Galloway's novels "The Trick Is to Keep Breathing" and "Foreign Parts". The core research objective is to compare their narrative strategies, analyze similarities in their psychological and physical conditions, and explore the specific survival mechanisms each character develops.
- Comparative analysis of narrative structures and points of view in Galloway's work.
- Investigation of existential crises, trauma, and identity loss.
- Examination of the protagonists' relationships with their social environment, specifically men and mothers.
- Exploration of coping strategies and the realization of survival techniques.
- Discussion of thematic parallels to the author's own biography.
Excerpt from the Book
b Behaviour
Anorexia is the heaviest but not the only consequence of Michael's death for Joy: After the accident she becomes a very passive woman. She prefers to think of herself and memorise the past instead of doing something useful to fight the pain. It even seems that her mind has lost contact to her body because already at the beginning of the novel she says: “I watch myself from the corner of the room, sitting in the armchair, at the foot of the stairwell.” (Galloway, The Trick Is to Keep Breathing, 7) and later mentions that “the physical self is precarious” (Galloway, The Trick Is to Keep Breathing, 46): Her body no longer seems to be attached on her mind. Instead it is so much out of control that she is not able to clean the house any more.
Only the routine of working as a drama teacher at school and as a bill seller in a betting agency keeps her socialised. But when she loses the will to work, she falls into complete social isolation. That leads her to a paranoid condition in which she cannot bear crowded streets any more and expects her own sister Myra as a potential risk for her life or rather for her psyche, “I've been afraid of Myra ever since I remember.” (Galloway, The Trick Is to Keep Breathing, 59), but primarily because Myra claims that Joy “never gret for [her] mother” (Galloway, The Trick Is to Keep Breathing, 67), touching a hidden wound.
Summary of Chapters
I. Introduction: This chapter provides biographical background on Janice Galloway and outlines the scope and objectives of this comparative term paper.
II. Textual Strategies: The Trick Is to Keep Breathing and Foreign Parts: This section investigates the narrative techniques, including point of view and the use of flashbacks, within both novels.
III. The Outsides and Insides of Joy and Cassie: This main body chapter explores the character development, the influence of their social surroundings, and the specific methods each woman uses to manage trauma and survive.
IV. Summary: The concluding chapter synthesizes the findings, highlighting the thematic similarities between the protagonists and reflecting on the autobiographical influences within the novels.
Keywords
Janice Galloway, The Trick Is to Keep Breathing, Foreign Parts, Narrative Strategy, Identity, Trauma, Anorexia, Gender, Existentialism, Survival, Scottish Literature, Protagonist, Feminism, Alienation, Psychological Crisis
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this paper?
The paper focuses on analyzing the protagonists of Janice Galloway's novels, Joy Stone and Cassie, to compare their personal struggles and identity crises.
What are the central thematic areas?
The central themes include the impact of trauma, the influence of male-dominated societal structures, loneliness, mental health issues, and the search for survival mechanisms.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to explore how these female protagonists navigate their existential crises and whether there are significant parallels in their paths to survival.
Which scientific method is applied?
The work employs a literary analysis method, focusing on close reading of narrative strategies, point of view, and character development within the provided texts.
What topics are covered in the main section?
The main section examines the protagonists' outer appearance and behavior, their traumas, their relationships with men, their mothers and friends, and finally, their specific "tricks to survive."
Which keywords best characterize this work?
The work is characterized by terms such as identity, trauma, existential crisis, narrative strategy, and survival techniques within contemporary Scottish literature.
Does the author perceive herself as a feminist writer?
No, the text clarifies that while Galloway's works offer harsh criticism of male-dominated society, she prefers to describe herself as a writer trying to capture the state of mind of her characters accurately.
How is the relationship between the two protagonists summarized?
The summary suggests that the protagonists share such profound similarities—loneliness, issues with men, and paranoia—that they could potentially be interpreted as the same person at different stages of life.
- Citation du texte
- Nadine Schneider (Auteur), 2004, Janice Galloway's protagonists: Women in Foreign Parts discover that The Trick Is to Keep Breathing, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/49976
