Racial, Ethnic, Gender and Class Representations in Margaret Laurenceâ (Tm)S Writings

Racial, Ethnic, Gender and Class Representations in Margaret Laurence's Writings is a study on Canada, Canadian literature and Margaret Laurence's works in particular, thus addressing various kinds of readership. If we only focus our attention on Canada, it is mainly dedicated to Canadianists. Considering that it is a thorough analysis of various literary genres, the book can be of interest to all literature lovers. At the same time, the book explores the parallelism between life and fiction, emphasising Laurence's biographic and realist elements and their influence on the writer's fictional writing, revealing real and imaginary worlds which would appeal to anybody's literary needs. The contribution to the already existent criticism of Margaret Laurence's works lies in the analysis of her work as an entity, balancing both terms of the common binary oppositions: fiction vs. non-fiction, Africa vs. Canada, white vs. Black or Metis. In spite of critical comments which might be raised, Andreea Topor-Constantin undertakes the role to comment how the voice of the marginal makes itself heard throughout her books, underlying Laurence's emphasis on characterisation and her genuine concern for people. This book swiftly shifts from the African to the writer's Canadian background, from adults' to children's literature, from novels to short stories, from essays to letters, in order to challenge readers' perceptions of race, ethnicity, gender and class.