Outstanding Author Gail Godwin - Research Paper Example

Gail Godwin One way of determining how well read a population might be is to discover how many works within a specific collection of titles have been read by members of that population. This collection of works is often filled with outstanding names in literary circles such as William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, Mary Shelley and others. Such a collection is considered to be a literary canon and it is comprised of titles that are agreed upon by critics, teachers, authors, scholars and influential people because of the work’s ability to inspire discussion and exploration of ideas. How an author appears in these canons is thus a subjective matter of opinion, but an opinion that is generally well-informed and typically well-read. When considering new authors for the literary canon, there are a number of factors that should be considered including the work itself and the way in which it engages with the social and political trends of the times in which it was written. Because the concept is not always well-defined, it is sometimes difficult for people to understand why some titles should be included in the canon. However, after looking more closely at the formation of the literary canon and then at the works of the outstanding author Gail Godwin, it is clear that this author has already earned her place within today’s contemporary literary canon. The problem with determining which works should be included in the literary canon begins with the amorphous meaning of the term and its application to authorial works. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, the most applicable definitions of the word canon include “an authoritative list, as of the works of an author” and “a basis for judgment; standard; criterion” (2010). There is a sense within these definitions, and the other definitions provided for the term, that the standards are set by an authoritative body of some kind – a higher awareness of what is ultimately good or meritorious in its execution. “Those who decide whether a work will be canonized include influential literary critics, scholars, teachers and anyone whose opinions and judgments regarding a literary work are also widely respected. For this reason, there are no rigid qualifications for canonization, and whether a work will be canonized remains a subjective decision” (Pryor, 2010). Without clear definitions, clear qualifications or a clear understanding of the accepted authoritative body who makes the decisions regarding which works to canonize, it would seem any literary work could foster a reasonable expectation that it also has a chance to be canonized in some way. However, the canon would lose its effectiveness if every book had equal chance to be included and thus certain ambiguous standards have been established. To be included in the canon means the work has gained a prestigious status on social, political, economic and/or aesthetic grounds as an object of quality that is guaranteed to be delivered to the individual choosing to engage with it – in this case the reader. The canon tells the reader that the work they are about to read “has been winnowed by the sensitive few and the not-so-sensitive many, and it will repay your attention. You will receive pleasure; at least you’re supposed to, and if you don’t, well, perhaps there’s something off with your apparatus” (Landow, 1989). What this generally communicates to the reader is that to enter the intellectual elite, one must have read most of the titles included in the canon while reading outside of it is a waste of time and effort. However, evidence that there are numerous worthy works outside of the canon exists in the fact that the canon is constantly in a state of flux both as the result of changing academic emphases and because of shifting cultural, political and philosophical trends. Given this understanding of the concept of the literary canon, it seems quite clear that Gail Godwin is an author that should be included in today’s literary canon. Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1937, Gohwin was raised in North Carolina by her divorced mother and her grandmother, gaining a unique perspective on American development during a period of tremendous social, cultural and political change (Kirkpatrick, 1994). Her life experiences included a successful education in that she eventually earned her PhD in English literature by 1971, an unsuccessful marriage, work within the field of journalism on a variety of levels and a period as a starving artist as she worked to fulfill her dream of seeing Europe, working through the early 1960s in the U.S. Embassy in London while also writing short stories and novels in her spare time. It wasn’t until she returned to America in the latter half of that decade that she resumed her higher education to receive her MA and PhD. With this kind of background in literature and her active engagement with many of the events that occurred during this era of significant change, Godwin is uniquely positioned to offer high quality commentary on the issues and philosophical concepts that were brought forward. While her biography indicates she is qualified as both a writer and an observer of the changes of this period, her works have received adequate attention among the professionals of the literary world, the types of individuals already identified as being those who determine which works should be included in the canon. Her work has been nominated for the National Book Award three times, has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in fiction and libretto writing. She has also won the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in recognition of her literary excellence. Proving that she also has the enthusiastic support of the “not-so-sensitive many”, five of Godwin’s novels have also appeared on the New York Times best seller list, the country’s most authoritative resource on popular literary interests. The reason for this is because of her wide exploration of sensitive modern issues within her novels. Godwin’s early novels represent a strong relationship to the literary traditions of the past while still revealing a unique voice, an important unifying characteristic of the literary canon works. These early works had a strong focus on individual development, particularly as it applied to women attempting to break out of the restrictive roles that had been imposed upon them by society. They included two National Book Award finalist titles – The Odd Woman (1974) and Violet Clay (1978). The Odd Woman plays off of an earlier title by George Gissing (1893) that suggested women who were unwilling to conform to their allotted roles would end up being single and alone, unable to maintain a satisfying personal relationship with a man. In Godwin’s novel, the main character follows the expectations of the earlier novel as she actually experiences the types of break-downs in relationships foretold and attempts to make sense of what that means to her. In Violet Clay, Godwin revisits the tradition of the Gothic novel with a modern twist as the main character looks disparagingly back on her past failures as an artist and reveals how she ‘broke through’ the walls of her own creation to find success. Within both of these novels, Godwin reveals a strong awareness of past literary tradition and uses this knowledge to create something new that speaks to the modern audience of the 20th century. This is a characteristic that she carries forward through all of her future work as well, in both fiction and memoir. Her later books reveal that she embraced the new philosophies emerging as society slipped into the postmodern age thus fulfilling another of the major characteristics of works selected for the literary canon. One of the characteristics of the postmodern is the concept that multiple equally valid voices exist simultaneously. This can be seen in her novels A Mother and Two Daughters (1982), A Southern Family (1987), The Good Husband (1994) and Unfinished Desires (2010). In all of these novels, the story is told from multiple perspectives yet each retains its own voice and its own means of approaching the issues of family, community and relationships that are the hallmarks of Godwin’s work. In other novels such as The Finishing School (1984), Father Melancholy’s Daughter (1991), Evensong (1999) and the novella Evenings at Five (2003), Godwin attempts to explore the inner motivations and blocks of the psyche through her main characters. This theme also runs strongly through her non-fiction and published edited journals including The Making of a Writer (2006, 2010) and Heart: A Natural History of the Heart-Filled Life (2001). Although the literary canon is only poorly defined and ambiguously decided, there is no question that Gail Godwin should be listed in its list of outstanding authors. What characterizes works from the literary canon is that they are recommended both by the ‘sensitive’ literary community and by the general public, that they have a basis in literary tradition, that they express a distinctive voice and that they somehow reflect important developments in societal development. Godwin encompasses all of these elements within her body of work. Her unique background has given her strong insight into societal matters while her strong education has provided her with an unbreakable link to the literary past. Her stories demonstrate this link from her earliest publications while the theme that runs through all of her work shows a constant questing for the answers to the questions being asked by modern society today. The numerous awards that have been received by these publications indicates her level of acceptance among the literati authority while her success on the New York Times best seller list indicates she has made a strong impression upon the popular public as well. Thus, Godwin meets all of the recognizable basic criteria for inclusion in the literary canon. Works Cited “Canon.” American Heritage Dictionary. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2010. Kirkpatrick, D.K. Reference Guide to American Literature, Third Edition. London: St. James Press, 1994 Landow, George P. “The Literary Canon.” The Victorian Web. Brown University, 1989. Pryor, Devon. “What is a Literary Canon.” WiseGeek. 2010. Read More