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Dialogism, cultural narratolgy, and contemporary Canadian novels in English

University of British Columbia

In "Dialogism, Cultural Narratology, and Contemporary Canadian Novels in English," I develop a methodological framework that combines Mikhail M. Bakhtin's concept of dialogism with the idea of a cultural narratology to read for ideological signification in narrative structures. Narrative forms, I argue, are not ideal and timeless but socially and historically determined. In this dissertation, I explore how they can contribute.to or impede a text's challenge to hegemonic discourses and social injustices. In particular, I focus on Bakhtin's concept of dialogism to examine the multiplicity and interrelation of voices in narrative texts. Because voices and discourses always operate within relations of power, I understand struggle and conflict not as obstacles to but as conditions of dialogic relations. In my readings of selected contemporary Canadian novels in English, I argue that these texts challenge dominant discourses from positions of difference and resistance and inscribe previously oppressed and silenced voices through dialogic relations. As a result, the novels question the idea of an homogeneous Canadian culture. After establishing the theoretical context for this study, which includes the notion of resistance literature and the principles of cultural narratology, I introduce Bakhtin's main ideas on dialogism and situate my own approach to dialogism in a selective overview of recent Bakhtin criticism. The remaining chapters are devoted to Joy Kogawa's "Obasan", Sky Lee's "Disappearing Moon Cafe", Aritha van Herk's "Places Far From Ellesmere", Daphne Marlatt's "Ana Historic", Jeannette Armstrong's "Slash", Thomas King's "Green Grass, Running Water", and Margaret Sweatman's "Fox". I conclude by indicating further directions for research that could employ the methodological framework of dialogism and cultural narratology.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-03-16

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/6101

English

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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