Abstract
Canadian literature in contemporary times has been influenced by an intersection of postmodernist and feminist theories. This paper addresses whether the politics of feminism can be in any fruitful sense interlinked with that of postmodernism, focusing on three Canadian writers: Sinclair Ross, Robert Kroetsch and Margaret Atwood. Through readings of Ross’s As For Me and My House, Kroetsch’s Badlands, and Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the paper argues that while postmodern thought has contributed to feminism in crucial ways by exposing oppressive ideologies, it ultimately deflates and parodies ideologies of meaningful struggle, making it necessary for progressive feminist politics to part ways with postmodernism.
Sinclair Ross and the Female Consciousness
Ross’s As For Me and My House (1941) preempts much of later Canadian fiction as a first-person narration and an exploration of the female consciousness. Written in the form of a diary kept by Mrs. Bentley, the work becomes a classic exposition of the psychological trauma of a married woman within the framework of a society that perpetuates unequal and unjust gender relations. The novel’s feminist politics rests in the very subjectivity of the narrative, drawing attention to the politics behind the personal. The very act of publicizing a woman’s personal feelings is a step towards politicizing it.
Robert Kroetsch and Postmodern Strategies
Like Ross, Robert Kroetsch assumes a female narrative voice in Badlands (1975), making use of explicit postmodern thought and strategies. Anna Dawe’s narrative occupies a privileged position because she upholds the need for plurality. The postmodern concept of history becomes a strategy for empowerment: linear historiography is debunked as overwhelmingly biased towards prevalent power structures. However, such debunking of History has serious implications for feminist thought and its political agenda, as denying the past or the possibility of knowable history effectually denies meaningful interventions into the historical process.
Margaret Atwood and Dystopian Feminism
Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) is set in a future that is a logical extension of trends in the present world. The Gilead regime reduces women to their “biological destinies.” Postmodernist politics conceptualizes resistance not simply as opposed to power but also as constituted by power. The dystopia is portrayed by presenting the regime as all-powerful and impenetrable, and the novel’s critique remains ineffectual — radical without being threatening.
Conclusion
Ross’s As For Me And My House portrays the travails of a woman’s consciousness with an acute discernment of nuance. In the works of Kroetsch and Atwood, the very possibility of a definite feminist consciousness and struggle are consciously punctured. Nevertheless, postmodern thought has contributed to feminism by exposing oppressive ideologies. But it goes on to deflate ideologies of meaningful struggle as well. Feminism needs to move beyond particular contexts and base itself on the knowable history of women’s oppression and have faith in the vision of an egalitarian society.
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