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http://hdl.handle.net/11375/13311
Title: | Patterns of the Artist in English-Canadian Fiction |
Authors: | Fredericks, MacMillan Carrie |
Advisor: | Ballstadt, Carl |
Department: | English |
Keywords: | English Language and Literature;English Language and Literature |
Publication Date: | May-1977 |
Abstract: | <p>The purpose of this study is to analyse the presentation of the artist figure in English-Canadian fiction from the beginnings of Canadian literature to the present. While a few studies on this subject have been done in the past, none have the historical scope, nor are they as comprehensive in material covered, as this one. Therefore, this study is the most thorough to date in discovering overall patterns of this presentation and development of the artist figure in English-Canadian fiction.</p> <p>The study investigates the following aspects of the artist figure within the individual works of fiction: the sources of creative inspiration, impediments to creativity, the creative process, the kind of art produced and the artist figure's relationship to his society. It also analyses the kinds of fiction in which the artist figure is presented and the technical devices and images employed. Lastly, it attempts to discover overall patterns of development of the presentation of the artist figure in the fiction.</p> <p>The thesis find three major and sometime chronologically overlapping stages in the presentation of the artist figure: the settlement state (1850s-1920s) in which the artist figure and the author of the literature are one and the form the writing takes is the journal or the autobiography, the rural and small-town stage (1920s-1950s) in which the artist figure is a fictional character and the form of the literature is usually the autobiographical novel and the urban stage (1950s-present) in which the artist figure is also a fictional characters but the forms the literature takes are more varied. Concurrently with finding characteristics of the artist figure within individual stages, it discovers that the presentation of the artist figure has changed over the years. The development has been away from the presentation of the artist figure as failed in the first two stages to the successful artist in the third stage. Whereas the impediments to creativity were strong and overpowering in the first two stages, they are less so in the last stage. While the impediments to creativity tended to be external in the earlier literature, caused by nature and society, they become more internal in the recent fiction. The kinds of images employed in the first two stages are usually negative, while those in the last stage are more positive, indicating the changing state of the artist. Since the portrayal of the artist within the fiction reflects a statement by his creator on the condition of the artist in his particular time and place, the portrayal of the confident artist in recent fiction suggests a maturing literary climate in this country.</p> |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/13311 |
Identifier: | opendissertations/813 1785 970822 |
Appears in Collections: | Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
Files in This Item:
File | Size | Format | |
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fulltext.pdf | 12.89 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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