Nature and gender in Alice Munro's "Meneseteung” and "Before the change" Amany Abdullah Abdel-Aziz Eldiasty.

Abstract EN

Within the theoretical framework of ecofeminism, the paper seeks to delineate the vision of the contemporary Canadian short story writer, Alice Munro (1931-), in juxtaposing culture oppressing women, and man exploiting nature through reading “Meneseteung” and “before the change”.

the paper investigates the social dimensions oppressing women and the woman / nature bond in the selected works focusing on their affinity and their shared experience of exploitation and oppression at the hands of men.

in “Meneseteung”, Munro uses gender to oppose social trivialities and expected roles while in “before the change” she uses gender to oppose apparently religious arrangements till both female protagonists reach epiphany.

while in “Meneseteung” Munro uses nature as the external environment with its non-humans, in “before the change” she concentrates on deep human nature.

both works of art depict the relationship between female characters and nature as a necessity for survival in a patriarchal society that reinforces dualism.

Munro proves totally against the capitalist and patriarchal forces within the Canadian society, aims at a general social change and warns her readers against selfish schemes that subordinate both nature and women to men.