Alice Munro and Anton Chekhov
Alice Munro and Anton Chekhov: A Comparative Analysis Ms. Sangita L. Patil
Research Scholar, Shivaji University, Kolhapur (India) The comparative analysis of the stories of two famous contemporary writers Alice Munro and Anton Chekhov gives an opportunity to follow the development of the genre of short stories in Canadian and in Russian literature. Both are stalwarts of their respective literature. Commenting on the greatness of A. Chekhov, E. B. Tager writes:
As far as Chekhov is concerned, it is not enough to say that the nineties ushered in a new stage in his literary career, these were the years when Chekhov’s genius was formed and he came to occupy one of the leading places among the greatest exponents of realism in the world literature of that time. (15) The proliferation of women writers is a remarkable feature of the Canadian literary scene of the second half of this century. It is interesting to note that most of the women writers have taken up the fiction as their favorite genre. Alice Munro opted for short story genre. In her early period of her literary career, her mastery as a short story writer is amply revealed. In an interview to Graeme Gibson, Munro said “--- I grew up in a rural community, a very traditional community---. The concern of everyone else I know was dealing with life on a very practical level---” (246). Both the writers wrote stories under different circumstances of social life, customs, cultures, traditions, family surroundings, etc. in Ontario and Russia. What is the significance of comparing both the writers? Chekhov comes to help in this regard when he writes in 1888: “It is possible to gather all the best of the creations of artists of all ages and using the scientific method find out the common factors which stipulate their value” (218). With this perspective at the back of mind, let us see Munro and Chekhov. The article writer has no intention of looking into literary links between the two
Research Scholar, Shivaji University, Kolhapur (India) The comparative analysis of the stories of two famous contemporary writers Alice Munro and Anton Chekhov gives an opportunity to follow the development of the genre of short stories in Canadian and in Russian literature. Both are stalwarts of their respective literature. Commenting on the greatness of A. Chekhov, E. B. Tager writes:
As far as Chekhov is concerned, it is not enough to say that the nineties ushered in a new stage in his literary career, these were the years when Chekhov’s genius was formed and he came to occupy one of the leading places among the greatest exponents of realism in the world literature of that time. (15) The proliferation of women writers is a remarkable feature of the Canadian literary scene of the second half of this century. It is interesting to note that most of the women writers have taken up the fiction as their favorite genre. Alice Munro opted for short story genre. In her early period of her literary career, her mastery as a short story writer is amply revealed. In an interview to Graeme Gibson, Munro said “--- I grew up in a rural community, a very traditional community---. The concern of everyone else I know was dealing with life on a very practical level---” (246). Both the writers wrote stories under different circumstances of social life, customs, cultures, traditions, family surroundings, etc. in Ontario and Russia. What is the significance of comparing both the writers? Chekhov comes to help in this regard when he writes in 1888: “It is possible to gather all the best of the creations of artists of all ages and using the scientific method find out the common factors which stipulate their value” (218). With this perspective at the back of mind, let us see Munro and Chekhov. The article writer has no intention of looking into literary links between the two
Cited: Basu, Sankar. Chekhov And Tagore. New Delhi: Sterling, 1985. Chekhov, A. P. Complete Collected Works. Vol. 14 (tr. S. B.) Moscow, 1949. Print Chudakov, A Gibson, Graeme. Eleven Canadian Novelists. Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 1973. Print Mc Culloch, Jeanne Munro, Alice. Something I Have Been Meaning to Tell You. London: Vintage, 1974. Print. Ramaswamy, S. “The Art of Alice Munro”. The Literary Criterion. Vol. XLIV. No. 2, 2009 Tager, E