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.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |34 pages
The argument
chapter |9 pages
Paying attention: here come the mothering clowns
chapter |5 pages
The madonna and the harlot join the family circus
chapter |4 pages
Dilemma: watching through Orphan Annie eyes
chapter |4 pages
Response: dancing with the puppet Alicia
chapter |10 pages
Large pink woman reading a joke
part |194 pages
Readings