Divining Margaret Laurence

by Stovel, Nora Foster

• ISBN13: 9780773533769
• ISBN10: 0773533761
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-09-01
• Publisher: McGill Queens Univ Pr

Summary

Margaret Laurence is justly famous for her Manawaka cycle of Canadian novels, but her work extends from Canada to Africa and includes poetry and prose, children's and adult literature, memoir and travel-writing. Whereas previous studies focus on certain aspects of her work, Divining Margaret Laurence addresses all her important writings, including a final, unfinished manuscript - Dance on the Earth: A Memoir. This comprehensive study of her writings, including archival material, allows Nora Stovel to trace the development of Laurence's Canadian identity, feminist sympathies, moral vision, and creative artistry. Twenty years after her death Margaret Laurence remains one of Canada's most esteemed and beloved writers. This new critical assessment of her work is not only a testament to her literary achievement but also a valuable contribution to Canadian, African, women's, children's, travel, and fiction writing.

Table of Contents

Chronology of Margaret Laurence's Life and Works
Books by Margaret Laurence
Beginnings: "A Place to Stand On"
Introduction: "The Promised Land of One's Own Inner Freedom"	p. 3
"Embryo Words": Laurence's Early Writings	p. 36
Heart of a Stranger: Laurence's Life-Journey	p. 59
The African Texts: "A Seven Years' Love Affair with a Continent"
"A Labour of Love": A Tree for Poverty: Somali Poetry and Prose	p. 87
"The Sleeping Giant": Long Drums and Cannons: Nigerian Dramatists and Novelists, 1952-1966	p. 107
"The Face of Africa": The Prophet's Camel Bell, This Side Jordan, and The Tomorrow-Tamer	p. 123
The Canadian Texts: "A Small-Town Prairie Person"
"A Town of the Mind": Laurence's Mythical Microcosm of Manawaka	p. 155
"A Holy Terror": Hagar, Hero(ine) of The Stone Angel	p. 172
"Sisters under Their Skins": A Jest of God and The Fire-Dwellers	p. 203
"Death and Love": Romance and Reality in A Bird in the House	p. 225
"(W)Rites of Passage": A Portrait of the Writer in The Diviners	p. 245
"Dance on the Earth": Laurence's Unfinished Novel	p. 265
Endings: "Full Circle"
Snow Angels and Monarch Butterflies: Laurence's Children's Fiction	p. 285
Lady of the Dance: Choreographing a Life in Dance on the Earth: A Memoir	p. 303
"The Mystery at the Core of Life": Closure in the Texts, Career, and Life of Margaret Laurence	p. 320
Notes	p. 333
Works Cited	p. 369
Index	p. 389
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