Geography and psychology in stories by Clark Blaise

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorSartini, Kenneth Charlesen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-15T18:19:07Z
dc.date.available2024-08-15T18:19:07Z
dc.date.copyright1989en_US
dc.date.issued1989
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of English
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en
dc.description.abstractThe principal intention of this thesis is to explain the psychological significance of the geographical metaphors and symbols that feature prominently in the short stories of Clark Blaise. After a brief review of the work of three critics who have touched on this aspect of Blaise's writing and of Blaise's background in earth sciences, eleven stories are discussed. These stories fall into linked groups, each of which presents a psychological phenomenon that is analyzed in terms of its geographical references. These phenomena are all traced to Blaise's concern with "the frailty of identity", a phrase used in "He Raises Me Up" which may be taken as the cornerstone of this thesis. In the first group of four stories the protagonists are all seen to be suffering the dilemmas of split personality. In each story Blaise's technique of working from a single exfoliating geographical symbol is demonstrated. Two stories in which geography serves as an agent of psychological warfare are discussed in the second group. Geography, while continuing to provide metaphors, is also shown to function actively in the psychological division of society as well as the individual. The third group shows how awareness of disorientation among Blaise's characters develops into a major preoccupation with psycho-navigation, the significance of such devices as a map and a surveyor's transit in resolving Oedipal conflicts is discussed. Other issues which cut across group divisions are considered. These include the significance of characters' names, the "parenting" effect of bodies of water on Blaise's imagination, and the recurrence of alter egos. Throughout the stories young people are shown to have greater concern for an a stronger grasp on their sense of identity than adults, the indifference of the latter being traceable most often to the frequency of their uprooting and resettlement all over North America. The device which serves to distinguish Blaise from most other writers who work through references to geography, the subversion of his geographical metaphors, is discussed in a number of stories. The thesis ends with a discussion of the story that is Blaise's most comprehensive statement of the interaction between psychology and geographical metaphor, "A North American Education".en
dc.format.extent97 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/19573
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.titleGeography and psychology in stories by Clark Blaiseen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
SARTINI_Kenneth_Charles_MA_1989_509919.pdf
Size:
26.64 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD)
 
University of Victoria Libraries

We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.