Constructing the Southern Ontario Gothic in Timothy Findley's Not Wanted on the Voyage, Margaret Atwood's Surfacing, Alice Munro's Who Do You Think You Are? and Barbara Gowdy's Falling Angels
The thesis offers the definition of the Southern Ontario Gothic as a genre by exemplifying its narrative constructs in three novels: Timothy Findley's Not Wanted on the Voyage (1984), Margaret Atwood's Surfacing (1972), Barbara Gowdy's Falling Angels (1989) and a collection of short stories – Alice Munro's Who Do You Think You Are? (1978). The framework of the Southern Ontario Gothic is set in comparison with the American Southern Gothic, showing that these two independent Gothic subgenres share the same narrative constructs. The thesis also deals with the problematic behind defining these Gothic subgenres and supports the notion that Canadian Southern Ontario Gothic and the American Southern Gothic, despite being two separate genres, share all features of Southern Gothicism. Because of that the thesis supports the idea of Southern Gothicism as an umbrella term for the Southern Ontario Gothic and the Southern Gothic, i.e. the term that transgresses the boundaries of one genre (the American Southern Gothic). The term ―the Southern Gothics‖ has been coined for the purpose of this thesis and refers to both genres together with their common features. Consequently, the Southern Ontario Gothic narrative constructs, exemplified and analyzed in the four narratives in question, are based on the Canadian literary theory as well as the American Southern Gothic literary practice. The constructive elements which build the framework of the Southern Ontario Gothic encompass the specific haunted setting which is comprised of typical Southern locales immersed in the distinct Southern atmosphere. Southern Ontario Gothic narratives‘ stock characters are portrayed as other, as different from the rest of society. Moreover, the Southern Ontario Gothic characters assume four crucial roles: that of the Gothic father, Gothic mother, weakling protagonist and morally righteous hero or heroine. The analyzed narratives also share common themes: themes of domestic horror and themes of righteousness and sin. All categories in Southern Ontario Gothic framework are accompanied with the extensive use of grotesque. The conclusion of the thesis is that Southern Ontario Gothic exists as an independent genre with its fully developed constructive elements
