THE IMAGES OF FEMALE WRITERS IN THE “EMILY” AND “ANNE” SERIES BY L.M. MONTGOMERY
Keywords:
Canadian literature, artist novel, Künstlerroman, image, motif, symbol, feminine discourse, artistic discourse.
Abstract
While the Künstlerroman may well be considered one of the genres that have blossomed most prominently in the 20th century English-Canadian literature, research investigating its poetics has remained on the fringes of literary scholarship. This paper examines L.M. Montgomery’s sophisticated use of the Künstlerinroman through her portraits of female writers in the Emily and Anne series. My goal is to explore how Montgomery’s heroines choose to narrate themselves and the world around them, how they transcend difficulties and assert their own unique perspectives. Therefore, this paper examines not only the socio-cultural environment which served as background for the creation of literature, but also the writer’s reflections regarding the process of bringing said literature into the world. Drawing on the scholarship of J. Buckley, R. Seret, E. Varsamopoulou, F. Hammill, K. Macfarlane, G.A. Guth and others, this paper aims to analyze L.M. Montgomery’s “sophisticated handling of genre” (E.R. Epperly) in greater depth and place her portraits of the female artists within a broader cultural and literary context. The question of female subjectivity, which concerns women’s perceptions of their own writing (and their fate as artists), is central to my research.
References
1. Bashkirtseff, M. (1890). The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff. London : Cassell & Company Limited.
2. Buckley, J. (1974). Season of Youth: The Bildungsroman from Dickens to Golding. Cambridge : Harvard University Press.
3. Clement, L. D. (2018). The Empathic Poetic Sensibility: Discerning and Embodying Nature’s Secrets. In R. Bode & J. Mitchell (Eds.), L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s) (pp. 184–196). Montreal : McGill-Queen’s University Press.
4. Epperly, E. R. (2018). Natural Bridge: L.M. Montgomery and the Architecture of Imaginative Landscapes. In R. Bode & J. Mitchell (Eds.), L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s) (pp. 89–110). Montreal : McGill-Queen’s University Press.
5. Frever, T. S. (2021). “Seeing Female Readers, Reading Female Readers, Making Meta-Readers: Montgomery as Depictor and Creator of Scholars.” Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies. https://doi.org/10.32393/jlmms/2021.0006.
6. Gammel, I. (2008). Looking for Anne of Green Gables: The Story of L.M. Montgomery and Her Literary Classic. New York : St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
7. Guth, G. A. (1991). Interplay in the ‘Emily’ Trilogy of L.M. Montgomery: A Canadian Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman. [MA thesis, University of Ottawa].
8. Hammill, F. (2003). Literary Culture and Female Authorship in Canada 1760–2000. Amsterdam; New York : Rodopi.
9. Hutcheon, L. (1988). The Canadian Postmodern: A Study of Contemporary English-Canadian Fiction. Toronto; New York; Oxford : Oxford University Press.
10. Keith, W.J. (2006). Canadian Literature in English (Vol. 1). Ontatio : The Porcupine’s Quill.
11. Kroetsch, R. (1989). “Beyond Nationalism: A Prologue”. The Lovely Treachery of Words: Essays Selected and New (pp. 64–72). Oxford : Oxford University Press.
12. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998). Künstlerroman | Coming of Age, Bildungsroman, Autobiographical. https://www.britannica.com/art/Kunstlerroman
13. Macfarlane, K. (1998). The Politics of Self-Narration: Contemporary Canadian Woman Writers, Feminist Theory and Metafictional Strategies. [Doctoral dissertation, McGill University].
14. Montgomery, L.M. (2015). Anne’s House of Dreams. London : Puffin Books.
15. Montgomery, L.M. (2009). Anne of Avonlea. London : Puffin Books.
16. Montgomery, L.M. (2008). Anne of Green Gables. London : Puffin Books.
17. Montgomery, L.M. (2015). Anne of Ingleside. London : Puffin Books.
18. Montgomery, L.M. (1980). Anne of the Island. New York : Bantam Books.
19. Montgomery, L.M. (1979). Emily Climbs. London : Harrap.
20. Montgomery, L.M. (1983). Emily of New Moon. New York : Bantam Books.
21. Montgomery, L.M. (2014). Emily’s Quest. Toronto : Tundra Books.
22. Montgomery, L. M., & Weber, E. (2006). After Green Gables: L.M. Montgomery’s Letters to Ephraim Weber, 1916-1941. Toronto : University of Toronto Press.
23. Rubio, M. H., & Waterston, E. H. (Eds.). (2018). The Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years (Vol. 2). Oxford : Oxford University Press.
24. Montgomery, L. M., & Rubio, M. (1985). The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery. Volume 3: 1921–1929. Oxford : Oxford University Press.
25. Moodie, S. (1991). Rachel Wilde, or, Trifles from the Burthen of a Life. In J. Thurston (Ed.), Voyages: Short Narratives of Susanna Moodie (pp. 98–150). Ottawa; Paris : University of Ottawa Press.
26. Ovcharenko, N. (1996). Mifolohema Zemli v kanads’kij i ukrayins’kij prozi [The Mythologem of the Earth in Canadian and Ukrainian Prose]. Kyiv : Kyivska Pravda. [in Ukrainian]
27. Pollard, A. (2021). “Wordsworth’s Light and Shelley’s Shadow: Revelation in L.M. Montgomery’s
Anne and Emily Series”. Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies. https://journaloflmmontgomerystudies. ca/vision/Pollard/Wordsworths-Light-and-Shellys Shadow.
28. Rubio, M. H. (2010). Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings. Toronto : Anchor Canada.
29. Seret, R. (1992). Voyage into Creativity: The Modern Künstlerroman. New York : P. Lang.
30. Shaw, G.B. (1891). The Quintessence of Ibsenism. London : Walter Scott.
31. Stead, W. (1890). The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff. The Story of a Girl’s Life. In W. Stead (Ed.), The Review of Reviews (pp. 539–549). London : Office of the Review of Reviews.
32. Varsamopoulou, E. (2019). The Poetics of the Künstlerinroman and the Aesthetics of the Sublime. New York : Routledge.
33. Williams, D. (1991). Confessional Fictions: A Portrait of the Artist in the Canadian Novel. Toronto : University of Toronto Press.
34. Wordsworth, W. (2000). “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”. In S. Gill (Ed.), William Wordsworth: The Major Works (pp. 595–615). Oxford : Oxford University Press.
2. Buckley, J. (1974). Season of Youth: The Bildungsroman from Dickens to Golding. Cambridge : Harvard University Press.
3. Clement, L. D. (2018). The Empathic Poetic Sensibility: Discerning and Embodying Nature’s Secrets. In R. Bode & J. Mitchell (Eds.), L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s) (pp. 184–196). Montreal : McGill-Queen’s University Press.
4. Epperly, E. R. (2018). Natural Bridge: L.M. Montgomery and the Architecture of Imaginative Landscapes. In R. Bode & J. Mitchell (Eds.), L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s) (pp. 89–110). Montreal : McGill-Queen’s University Press.
5. Frever, T. S. (2021). “Seeing Female Readers, Reading Female Readers, Making Meta-Readers: Montgomery as Depictor and Creator of Scholars.” Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies. https://doi.org/10.32393/jlmms/2021.0006.
6. Gammel, I. (2008). Looking for Anne of Green Gables: The Story of L.M. Montgomery and Her Literary Classic. New York : St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
7. Guth, G. A. (1991). Interplay in the ‘Emily’ Trilogy of L.M. Montgomery: A Canadian Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman. [MA thesis, University of Ottawa].
8. Hammill, F. (2003). Literary Culture and Female Authorship in Canada 1760–2000. Amsterdam; New York : Rodopi.
9. Hutcheon, L. (1988). The Canadian Postmodern: A Study of Contemporary English-Canadian Fiction. Toronto; New York; Oxford : Oxford University Press.
10. Keith, W.J. (2006). Canadian Literature in English (Vol. 1). Ontatio : The Porcupine’s Quill.
11. Kroetsch, R. (1989). “Beyond Nationalism: A Prologue”. The Lovely Treachery of Words: Essays Selected and New (pp. 64–72). Oxford : Oxford University Press.
12. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998). Künstlerroman | Coming of Age, Bildungsroman, Autobiographical. https://www.britannica.com/art/Kunstlerroman
13. Macfarlane, K. (1998). The Politics of Self-Narration: Contemporary Canadian Woman Writers, Feminist Theory and Metafictional Strategies. [Doctoral dissertation, McGill University].
14. Montgomery, L.M. (2015). Anne’s House of Dreams. London : Puffin Books.
15. Montgomery, L.M. (2009). Anne of Avonlea. London : Puffin Books.
16. Montgomery, L.M. (2008). Anne of Green Gables. London : Puffin Books.
17. Montgomery, L.M. (2015). Anne of Ingleside. London : Puffin Books.
18. Montgomery, L.M. (1980). Anne of the Island. New York : Bantam Books.
19. Montgomery, L.M. (1979). Emily Climbs. London : Harrap.
20. Montgomery, L.M. (1983). Emily of New Moon. New York : Bantam Books.
21. Montgomery, L.M. (2014). Emily’s Quest. Toronto : Tundra Books.
22. Montgomery, L. M., & Weber, E. (2006). After Green Gables: L.M. Montgomery’s Letters to Ephraim Weber, 1916-1941. Toronto : University of Toronto Press.
23. Rubio, M. H., & Waterston, E. H. (Eds.). (2018). The Complete Journals of L.M. Montgomery: The PEI Years (Vol. 2). Oxford : Oxford University Press.
24. Montgomery, L. M., & Rubio, M. (1985). The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery. Volume 3: 1921–1929. Oxford : Oxford University Press.
25. Moodie, S. (1991). Rachel Wilde, or, Trifles from the Burthen of a Life. In J. Thurston (Ed.), Voyages: Short Narratives of Susanna Moodie (pp. 98–150). Ottawa; Paris : University of Ottawa Press.
26. Ovcharenko, N. (1996). Mifolohema Zemli v kanads’kij i ukrayins’kij prozi [The Mythologem of the Earth in Canadian and Ukrainian Prose]. Kyiv : Kyivska Pravda. [in Ukrainian]
27. Pollard, A. (2021). “Wordsworth’s Light and Shelley’s Shadow: Revelation in L.M. Montgomery’s
Anne and Emily Series”. Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies. https://journaloflmmontgomerystudies. ca/vision/Pollard/Wordsworths-Light-and-Shellys Shadow.
28. Rubio, M. H. (2010). Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings. Toronto : Anchor Canada.
29. Seret, R. (1992). Voyage into Creativity: The Modern Künstlerroman. New York : P. Lang.
30. Shaw, G.B. (1891). The Quintessence of Ibsenism. London : Walter Scott.
31. Stead, W. (1890). The Journal of Marie Bashkirtseff. The Story of a Girl’s Life. In W. Stead (Ed.), The Review of Reviews (pp. 539–549). London : Office of the Review of Reviews.
32. Varsamopoulou, E. (2019). The Poetics of the Künstlerinroman and the Aesthetics of the Sublime. New York : Routledge.
33. Williams, D. (1991). Confessional Fictions: A Portrait of the Artist in the Canadian Novel. Toronto : University of Toronto Press.
34. Wordsworth, W. (2000). “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”. In S. Gill (Ed.), William Wordsworth: The Major Works (pp. 595–615). Oxford : Oxford University Press.
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Published
2023-12-14
How to Cite
Nikolenko, K. (2023). THE IMAGES OF FEMALE WRITERS IN THE “EMILY” AND “ANNE” SERIES BY L.M. MONTGOMERY. Scientific Journal of Polonia University, 60(5), 97-106. https://doi.org/10.23856/6011
Section
LANGUAGE, CULTURE, COMMUNICATION
