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Coral Ann Howells. Refiguring Identitites: Contemporary Canadian Women s Fiction. New York: Palgrave/Macmillan, 2003. 230 Pp. $59.95 cloth. Coral Ann Howells, ed. Where Are the Voices Coming From?: Canadian Culture [...]

Through illustration of work by authors Andree Dahan, Mona Latif Ghattas and Nadine Ltaif, the essay shows how writing by women of ethnic or racial minority identification in Quebec effects political and social critique in ways similar to that which can in observed in texts by women of ethnic/racial minority identification in English Canada. Appearances to the contrary derive from the differing contexts of production - Quebec and English Canada.

A selection of Canadian writer Hugh MacLennan's letters to fellow writer Marian Engel are presented. Their correspondence lasted from 1956-1966 and reflected their common interest in writing as well as the emotional relationship that blossomed between them.

This essay examines The Diviners as an exploration of contra/diction in two senses. Protagonist Morag Gunn perceives contradiction between conventional and personal understandings of truth and knowledge. Language plays a contradictory role in this perception. It is involved in the construction and dictation of social norms, but it can used to contradic convention and express difference. The exploration of questions of difference leads Laurence to consider the limits of language and the privilege of the centre and the visual in the apprehension and representation of reality. The limitations of language can be alleviated when faith is placed in the intuitive guess, a |contradictory' attitude which allows for the possibility of writing. Dans The Diviners Laurence explore l'idee de la 'contradiction' a deux niveaux. La protagoniste Morag Gunn constate qu'il y a contradiction entre la verite et les connaissances telles que les presente la societe et telles que les comprend l'individu. Le language y joue un role contradictoire. Il sert de vehicule aux conventions sociales et, en meme temps, il sert a contredire la convention et exprimer la difference. L'exploration de la difference mene a une reflexion sur les limites du langage et sur la place privelegiee du centre et du visuel dans la representation de la realite. Devant les contradictions de la vie et du langage, l'intuition peut etre utile et permettre a l'ecrivain/e de croire au langage.