ABSTRACT

First published in 1992, this is the first study of the work of Alice Munro to focus on her obsession with mothering, and to relate it to the hallucinatory quality of her magic realism. A bizarre collection of clowning mothers parade across the pages of Munro’s fiction, playing practical jokes, performing stunts, and dressing in disguises that recycle vintage literary images. Magdalene Redekop studies this with the aim of gaining increased understanding of Munro’s evolving comic vision.

part |194 pages

Readings

chapter |23 pages

Dance of the Happy Shades

Reading the signs of invasion

chapter |28 pages

Lives of Girls and Women

Trying to understand the danger

chapter |27 pages

Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You

Coming to see the damage

chapter |34 pages

Who Do You Think You Are?

Blaming the king of the royal beatings

chapter |25 pages

The Moons of Jupiter

Picking up the pieces

chapter |35 pages

The Progress of Love

Making a spectacle of yourself

chapter |20 pages

Friend of My Youth

Making connections