Racial, Ethnic, Gender and Class Representations in Margaret Laurence’s Writings

1. Auflage 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4438-4746-9
Verlag: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 295 Seiten

Racial, Ethnic, Gender and Class Representations in Margaret Laurence’s Writings is a study on Canada, Canadian literature and Margaret Laurence’s works in particular, thus addressing various kinds of readership. This book avoids the danger of limiting the approach to solely focusing attention on Canada by presenting a thorough analysis of various literary genres, allowing the book to be of interest to all literature lovers. Furthermore, the book explores the parallelism between life and fiction, emphasising Laurence’s biographic and realist elements and their influence on the writer’s fictional writing, revealing real and imaginary worlds which would appeal to anybody’s literary needs.

This major contribution to the already existent criticism of Margaret Laurence’s works lies in the analysis of her work as an entity, balancing both terms of the common binary oppositions: fiction versus non-fiction, Africa versus Canada, white versus Black or Metis. In spite of critical comments which might be raised, Andreea Topor-Constantin comments on how the voice of the marginal makes itself heard throughout the author’s books, underlying Laurence’s emphasis on characterisation and her genuine concern for people.

This book covers all aspects of Laurence’s life and fiction: from the African to the writer’s Canadian background, from adults’ to children’s literature, from novels to short stories, from essays to letters, in order to challenge readers’ perceptions of race, ethnicity, gender and class.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Topor-Constantin, Andreea

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Einzelne Autoren: Monographien & Biographien
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Englische Literatur Postkoloniale Literaturen in Englisch, Englische Literatur außerhalb Europas
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturkritik: Hermeneutik und Interpretation
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literatursoziologie, Gender Studies

Über Autor(innen)

Topor-Constantin, Andreea
Andreea Topor-Constantin received her Ph.D. from the University of Bucharest, Romania in 2011. During the three-year doctoral programme, she benefited from a research stay at the University of Birmingham, UK. Her interest in Canadian Studies emerged during her Master’s degree in British Cultural Studies and she regularly publishes articles and presents papers on the topic at various academic events both in Romania and abroad. Her doctoral field of expertise includes Canadian women’s writing, Canadian identity, and Margaret Laurence’s writings. She currently teaches English at the Romanian-American University and publishes, as a co-author, workbooks for her students on Business English, English for Legal Purposes, and business communication skills. She has developed her skills in teaching English to adults, working as a trainer for various multinational companies in Bucharest.

Andreea Topor-Constantin received her Ph.D. from the University of Bucharest, Romania in 2011. During the three-year doctoral programme, she benefited from a research stay at the University of Birmingham, UK. Her interest in Canadian Studies emerged during her Master’s degree in British Cultural Studies and she regularly publishes articles and presents papers on the topic at various academic events both in Romania and abroad. Her doctoral field of expertise includes Canadian women’s writing, Canadian identity, and Margaret Laurence’s writings. She currently teaches English at the Romanian-American University and publishes, as a co-author, workbooks for her students on Business English, English for Legal Purposes, and business communication skills. She has developed her skills in teaching English to adults, working as a trainer for various multinational companies in Bucharest.