Munro

In my opinion one of the roles of literature fulfills, is that of empowering the powerless, and giving a voice to the voiceless.

For this reason, the study of literature celebrates such redemptive qualities, and allows for the recognition of those writers who would take up its mantle.

Author’s of women’s literature stand out in particular, as they represent a social class that has been the target of gender prejudice and bias for millennia.

As such, a form of literature targeted at the 49.6% of the world’s populous, is no doubt significant in understanding it’s workings.

An example of an author who has altered this field would be Alice Munro. Having revolutionized the architecture of the short story, Munro’s work during the 1950s and 80s transformed the themes and values that had long defined social realism. The importance of her work and the issues it dealt with was that it would later serve as the vanguard of second-wave feminism.

Whereas first-wave feminism had dealt with the suffrage of women, and overturned a number of legal obstacles to gender equality, second-wave feminism engaged a wider range of issues mainly, sexuality, family, the workplace and reproductive rights; subjects dealt with in Munro’s writings’.

Though Munro herself isn’t a feminist writer, he work provides insight into the lives of seemingly ordinary women; relatable characters who show just as, or even more complexity than your typical male protagonist.

As a writer myself, what I admire most about Munro’s writing, is the manner in which she presents her characters.

What’s more, the allowance she provides her readers in developing and interpreting them, further deepens their connection with the narrative and the subject matter Munro tries to address.

Another thing I appreciate about Munro, is that she never sets out to project or convey an established message, rather she writes from the heart, recounting tales that are raw, just as they are unashamed. The purpose of this being that her readers would interpret her stories in a manner relevant to them, and glean from them what they find most matters.

In closing, women’s literature and the work the of prolific authors such as Munro, cast women both young and old, in a ‘realistic’ light; as individuals, who despite their imperfections and circumstance, face life just as the rest of us… one step at a time.