Racial, Ethnic, Gender and Class Representations in Margaret Laurence’s Writings by Andreea Topor-Constantin (review)

In 1964, with the publication of the book opening the Manawaka cycle, Margaret Laurence instantly attracted the attention of the public. As this book shows, Laurence’s writings have again become the subject of critical attention. Written with passion and academic expertise, it offers a documented insight into Laurence’s world and makes the reader want to explore more of her fictional universe. Considering the author’s aim to address a wider variety of readers, the book also provides explorations of the specificity of the Canadian identity and lifestyle.

Racial, Ethnic, Gender and Class Representations in Margaret Laurence’s Writings emerged out of doctoral research. The author, Andreea Topor-Constantin, born in Romania, educated in her home country and Great Britain, proposes ‘a long journey through different genres, continents, cultures, critical approaches and mentalities’ (p. xii). The model of interpretation of the Laurentian writings that the author offers does not focus on dichotomy and opposition, but on similarities and interactions between characters discriminated in terms of race, ethnicity, gender and class. Topor-Constantin connects Laurence’s fiction to the non-fiction, the African-set writings to the Manawaka cycle, the white personages to the African or Métis ones, researching in detail the life, the thinking, the activity and the work of the author.

Chapters are arranged logically with precise subchapters. The first chapter is focused on theories and critical concepts, interestingly using Laurence’s own views of postcolonialism and feminism as argumentation for such an approach. Chapter 2, ‘In Search of a Voice: Margaret Laurence’s Journeys’ ‘dwells on Margaret Laurence’s inner and outer journeys’ (p. xx), a biography no different from the ones which have already been published on Laurence (and documented by Topor-Constantin), but linking life and work and briefly mentioning the author’s fiction for young adults. The third chapter, ‘The Centre/Margin Dichotomy in Margaret Laurence’s African Writings’ does not underestimate the value of the African fiction, generally considered an exercise for her Canadian-set series. Topor-Constantin draws a parallel between people whom Laurence met in Somalia and Ghana and their fictional counterparts, exploring each character, main or secondary. Chapters 4 and 5 are dedicated to the Manawaka cycle, with topics ranging from patriarchy, feminist issues, class discrimination, the history of the Métis and their status within Canadian society and the ethnic minorities of the imaginary prairie town: Germans, Asians, Greeks, Ukrainians and Jews.

Racial, Ethnic, Gender and Class Representations in Margaret Laurence’s Writings concludes on an optimistic tone, the author hoping to have revealed a more complete facet of the writer’s oeuvre, and ending with the words of Margaret Laurence’s own credo, ‘to show the uniqueness, the value, and the reality of the human individual’ (p. 244).