The Universality Of Canadian-ness: The Absence And Construction Of Canadian-ness Reflected In The Literary Works Of Margaret Laurence And Margaret Atwood

For quite a long time, due to some historical reasons, the existence of Canadian-ness in Canadian literature, particularly in Canadian literature in English, has been repeatedly questioned. During 1960s and 1970s, urged by a wide spread national consciousness, Canadian writers began to explore Canadian-ness in their writings so as to confirm that legitimate writings do exist in Canada. Margaret Laurence and Margaret Atwood, as two among the enormous female writers who have emerged from the effects of the 100th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation and the worldwide Women's Liberation Movement, have won international readership. The fact that Canadian literature in English has ever since been dominated by a great number of great women writers evolves into one tradition in Canadian society, which is integral to Canadian-ness. Being the most outstanding spokeswomen of Canadian literature in English, Margaret Laurence and Margaret Atwood were chosen for this study.This thesis intends to approach Canadian-ness by reviewing their biographies, which reveals the similarities in their common concerns over literary national identity and feminism. Geographic images, like island and city, are analyzed as the national psychic reaction to Canadian-ness. By retracing the ways the two writers have renovated and reshaped Canadian wilderness myth, the meaning of Canadian-ness begins to be transcended and to take on a universal significance. To take Canadian-ness further, the universal significance is to be uncovered through examining the two writers' influence on each other and on Canada.