THE INTERACTION AND DYNAMICS OF INTERMENTAL AND INTRAMENTAL THINKING IN SHORT STORIES BY ALICE MUNRO
Abstract
This article examines the interplay between intermental and intramental thought processes of female characters in selected short stories by renowned Canadian writer Alice Munro. Set in a post-war Canadian town near Lake Huron, the stories explore themes of women’s desires and self-fulfillment, often at odds with societal norms. Employing A. Palmer’s methodology, which emphasizes reconstructing character minds to understand narrative, the analysis combines stylistic, narratological, and general scientific methods. The stories, such as “My Mother’s Dream”, “To Reach Japan”, “Haven” “Chance”, and “Soon” feature female protagonists pursuing personal aspirations within societal expectations. The hypothesis considers the town to be a collective “social mind”, reflecting prevalent attitudes of 1950–1970’s in Canada regarding gender roles and social conventions. Through A. Palmer’s perspective, the text is viewed as a socially distributed cognitive system, depicting various intermental units within the community. Narrative techniques illustrate the complex relationship between individual and communal thought, as seen in an unnamed narrator in “Haven”, characters like young mother in “My Mother’s Dream”, aunt Dawn in “Haven”, Greta in “To reach Japan”, and Juliet in “Chance” and “Soon”. The analysis explores single and multiple focalization techniques, homodiegetic and heterodiegetic narration, intermental and intramental mind, revealing contrasting viewpoints on gender, societal norms, and personal identity. The versatility of A. Munro’s narrative techniques illuminate the tension between individual autonomy and societal conformity. The stories deal with the themes of religion, adherence to social rituals, and the struggle for personal expression against the expectations of the local community. Through detailed character portrayal and narrative techniques, A. Munro creates the dynamic interplay between individual and communal consciousness in the post-war Canadian provincial town, which is the object of the study of this paper.
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