Margaret Laurence

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Margaret Laurence , CC (born July 18, 1926 in Neepawa , Manitoba , † January 5, 1987 in Lakefield, Ontario ) was a Canadian writer . She was best known for her novels and short stories .

Life

Laurence was born Jean Margaret Wemys in a small town in Manitoba. She was raised by her aunt after her parents died in early childhood. She studied at Winnipeg's United College (now the University of Winnipeg ) and then worked as a journalist for the newspaper Winnipeg Citizen . In 1947 she married the engineer Jack Laurence; In 1950 the couple moved to Africa, where Jack Laurence first worked in Somalia and then in what was then the British colony of Gold Coast (now Ghana ). In 1957 the family returned to Canada. In 1962 Margaret Laurence separated from her husband and moved to England . In 1969 she began living in an abandoned forest cabin in Canada for several years during the summers, but continued to spend the winters in England. During this time she also held teaching positions at various Canadian universities. In 1971 she was named Companion of the Order of Canada ; three years later she finally returned to her homeland for good and settled in Lakefield in the province of Ontario . Between 1981 and 1983 she worked at Trent University in Peterborough (Ontario) .

In addition to her literary and academic work, Laurence was also involved in political issues; she advocated nuclear disarmament and environmental protection as well as against censorship . According to information from her biographer James King, confirmed by Laurence's children, she had struggled with depression and alcoholism throughout her life . In 1987 she committed suicide after she was diagnosed with lung cancer.

plant

Laurence began her literary career in Africa. In 1954 she published a collection of Somali poetry and short stories that she had translated into English or retold. Her first novel, This Side Jordan , was written in Canada and also dealt with Africa. He dealt with the Ghanaian independence movement. In her subsequent books, too, she repeatedly took up African locations. From a diary that she had kept in Somalia, she made the autobiographical novel The Prophet's Camel Bell . Critics rate her stories, which were summarized in the volume The Tomorrow-Tamer in 1963, as the best work of this creative period . Laurence's literary breakthrough came with her later novels, most of which are set in Canada in the area around her birthplace Neepawa. These novels are sometimes referred to as the "Manawaka series". Laurence wrote the first three parts, The Stone Angel (1964), A Jest of God (1966) and The Fire-Dwellers (1969) while still in England after the separation from her husband. She reached a wide readership in Canada, where Laurence established herself as one of the most famous writers with the trilogy. The Stone Angel is her most widely read work to this day. In 1974 the Manawaka series concluded with The Diviners , a novel that takes up various characters from the earlier parts and is considered to be her most ambitious work. She did not publish any further novels afterwards; it was limited to essays and children's books.

The focus in Laurence's novels is on character portrayal. According to her own statements, she only attaches importance to the form insofar as it has to create a framework in which the figures can be represented. These figures are often average people who are not distinguished by any special characteristics; some are middle-aged single women, others are characters on the fringes of society. Laurence's great success in Canada was partly attributed to the fact that she takes Canada seriously as an independent cultural region and thus creates an identity that is independent of previous colonial history. This focus is also on her early works from Africa, most of which were created during the colonial period and address the struggle for cultural and political independence.

Laurence received the Governor General's Award for Fiction for each of the novels A Jest of God and The Diviners . She was named a Person of National Historic Significance by the Canadian government in 2016 .

bibliography

  • A Tree for Poverty (1954, editor-in-chief; anthology of Somali poetry and short stories)
  • This Side Jordan (1960; novel)
  • The Tomorrow-Tamer (1963; short stories)
    • Übers. Herbert Schlüter: The voices of Adamo. Ten stories. Droemer Knaur, 1969
    • Einzelerz., Übers. Reinhild Böhnke : Der Weltentrummler, in: Gute Wander, mein Bruder. St. Benno Verlag , Leipzig 1986, pp. 175-193
  • The Prophet's Camel Bell (1963; autobiography)
  • The Stone Angel (1964; novel)
    • Übers. Herbert Schlüter : The stone angel. Novel. Droemer Knaur, 1965; again Reclam, Leipzig 1988 (The Stone Angel)
  • A Jest of God (1966; novel), filmed in 1968 as The Love of a Summer with Joanne Woodward
  • Long Drums and Cannons: Nigerian Dramatists and Novelists 1952-1966 (1968, as editor)
  • The Fire-Dwellers (1969; novel)
  • A Bird in the House (1963; short story book)
    • Übers. Marlies Juhnke: A bird in the house. A childhood on the Canadian prairies. Construction of TB atv, Berlin 1992
    • Excerpts, trans. Walter E. Riedel: A bird in the house, in: Modern storytellers of the world: Canada. Edition Erdmann , 1976
    • Single ore. Übers. Marlies Juhnke: Horses of the Night, in: Columbus and the giant lady. Structure atv, Berlin 1992, pp. 41 - 65 (Horses of the night)
    • Single ore. Übers. Walter E. Riedel: Die Seetaucher, in: The long journey. Canadian short stories and short stories. Verlag Volk und Welt , 1974 (The Loons)
  • Jason's Quest (1970; children's book)
  • The Diviners (1974; novel)
    • Excerpt, translator Birgit Herrmann: The site of filth, in: Women in Canada. Stories and poems. dtv, 1993 (The Nuisance Grounds)
  • Heart of a Stranger (1976; essay volume)
  • Six Darn Cows (1979; children's book)
  • The Olden Days Coat (1980; children's book)
  • A Christmas Birthday Story (1982; children's book)
  • Dance on the Earth: A Memoir (1989; autobiography)

literature

  • James King: The Life of Margaret Laurence . Vintage Canada, Toronto 1998, ISBN 0-676-97129-6
  • Lyall Powers: Alien Heart: The Life and Work of Margaret Laurence . Michigan State University Press, 2004 ISBN 0-87013-714-X
  • WH New (Ed.): Margaret Laurence: the Writer and Her Critics . 1977
  • Clara Thomas: Margaret Laurence. 1969
  • George Woodcock (Ed.): A Place To Stand On: Essays By and About Margaret Laurence. 1983
  • Donez Xiques: Margaret Laurence: the making of a writer . Dundurn, Toronto 2005, ISBN 978-1-550-02579-8
  • Laura K. Davis, Linda M. Morra Eds .: Margaret Laurence and Jack McClelland: Letters. University of Alberta Press 2018 (letters with their publisher from McClelland & Stewart )
  • Don Bailey (Donald Gilbert Bailey): Memories of Margaret. My friendship with Margaret Laurence. Prentice Hall, Toronto 1989 (memories of her correspondent for over 20 years)

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ^ A b Robert L. Ross: Colonial and Postcolonial Fiction. An Anthology . Garland: New York 1999, pp. 153f.
  2. ↑ a b Kristjana Gunnars: Entry on Margaret Laurence, in Eugene Benson, LW Conolly (ed.): Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English . Routledge, New York 1994, Vol. 1, pp. 822ff.
  3. ↑ cf. English Wikipedia Persons of National Historic Significance , with a list of all those honored
personal data
SURNAME Laurence, Margaret
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wemys, Jean Margaret (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian writer
DATE OF BIRTH July 18, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Neepawa (Canada)
DATE OF DEATH 5th January 1987
Place of death Lakefield (Canada)