Title: The theme of self-quest in Alistair MacLeod's No great mischief
Source document: The Central European journal of Canadian studies. 2008, vol. 6, iss. [1], pp. 37-46
Extent
37-46
-
ISSN1213-7715 (print)2336-4556 (online)
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/116077
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
The transitory nature of identifi cation seems to be a recurring motif in case of "the Scottish writer in exile" Alistair MacLeod's writings. No Great Mischief (1999) depicts the troubled process of self-quest, during the course of which the main character of the novel is trying to come to terms with his personal and communal history. How do we become who we are? How is it possible to live in the present and move on without losing our emotional ties with the past? These are some of the questions that MacLeod's novel addresses as No Great Mischief invites a reading sensitive to the key experience of dislocation and to our endless quest for meaning, unity, and identity.
Le caractère transitoire des procédures d'identification semble être un motif récurrent dans les oeuvres d'Alistair MacLeod, "écrivain écossais en exil." No Great Mischief (1999) présente le héros principal, à travers la quête de soi, faisant des efforts pour finir son histoire personnelle et collective. Comment est-il possible de devenir ce que nous sommes? Comment est-il possible de vivre dans le présent et de subir des altérations continues sans perdre pour autant nos attachements au passé? Ce sont des questions qui émergent dans le roman de MacLeod. No Great Mischief invite à une lecture proposant l'expérience de la dislocation ainsi que de l'interminable quête du sens, de l'unité et de l'identité.
References
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[2] Baer, William. "Lesson in the Art of Storytelling: An Interview with Alistair MacLeod". Michigan Quarterly Review 44, 2 (2005): 334-52.
[3] Campbell, D., MacLean, R. A. Beyond The Atlantic Roar: A Study of Nova Scotia Scots. Toronto: The Canadian Publishers, 1975.
[4] Edwards, Justin D. Gothic Canada. Alberta: The University of Alberta Press, 2005.
[5] Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press, 1963.
[6] Frye, Northrop. "Conclusion to the Literary History of Canada". Daymond, Douglas and Monkman, Leslie (eds.) Towards a Canadian Literature. Ottawa: Tecumseh Press, 1985, 460-93.
[7] Hall, Stuart. "Cultural Identity and Diaspora". Rutherford, Jonathan (ed.). Identity: Community, Culture, Difference. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1990, 222-37.
[8] Klinck, Carl F. (ed.) Literary History of Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1970.
[9] MacLeod, Alistair. No Great Mischief. London: Vintage, 2001.
[10] McNaught, Kenneth. The Pelican History of Canada. Markham, Ontario: Penguin Books, 1969.
[11] Miller, Karl. "Raritan". New Brunswick 21, 4 (2002): 149-62.
[12] Nairn, Tom. "Death in Canada: Alistair MacLeod and the Misfortunes of Ethnicity". Edinburgh Review 111 (2004): 42-61.
[13] Nicholson, Colin. "Regions of Memory: Alistair MacLeod's Fiction". British Journal of Canadian Studies 7, 1 (1992):128-37.
[14] Rogers, Shelagh. "An Interview with Alistair MacLeod". Guilford, Irene (ed.). Alistair MacLeod: Essays on His Works. Toronto: Guernica, 2001, 11-35.
[15] Worthington, Kim. Self as Narrative. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.