LE3 .A278 2007

2007

Wyile, Herb

Acadia University

Master of Arts

Masters

English

English & Theatre Studies

This thesis examines how the romance genre can be exploited to perpetuate traditional gender roles which uphold heteronormativity. The cluster of texts used to illustrate this pattern are four romances on the Halifax explosion of 1917: Frank McKelvey Bell's 'A Romance of the Halifax Disaster' (1918), Hugh MacLennan's 'Barometer Rising' (1941), Robert MacNeil's 'Burden of Desire' (1992), and the CBC movie written by Keith Ross Leckie, 'Shattered City' (2003). Though these works originally construct the "new" woman as progressive, the male gaze and a series of punishments and rewards ultimately recuperate the "new" woman back into old roles in which heteronormativity is espoused. Though these works have been written over a century, they ultimately enforce gender binaries. These four authors exploit the romance genre and uphold heteronormativity in the restoration of the city of ashes.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:2754