A Study Of Alice Munro’s Who Do You Think You Are? From The Perspective Of Schizoanalysis

Alice Munro is known as “master of the contemporary short story”.Who Do Yo Think You Are? is Alice Munro’s fourth collection of short story and won the Governor General’s Award in 1978.Including ten independent yet interlinked short stories,Who Do Yo Think You Are? follows the protagonist Rose through her childhood to midlife,depicting her exploration and epiphany about identity,love,marriage,art,and home.This thesis will employ three concepts in schizoanalysis,namely,“becoming”,“body without organs”,and “deterritorialization”,to probe into Rose’s journey of losing herself and seeking herself.By becoming-woman,becoming-animal,and becoming-imperceptible,Rose gains multiplicities and creativity,and becomes a celebrated female artist.She is both an empty body without organs and a full body without organs: though she indulges in romantic love and is indifferent to her parents,she can reflect her fault and face up to her shame.By deterritorialization,she activates her potentiality,frees from poverty,gets rid of patriarchal control,and starts her artistic life;however,the geographical reterritorialization helps her find her true self,eliminate the estrangement from her hometown,and get redemption.The process of Rose’s seeking identity reflects the identity crisis and survival dilemma that contemporary females are encountering.Alice Munro,through her unique écriture féminine,reveals the philosophical concern about contemporary females,and provides enlightenment for females to make better choices and live a better life,which presents the unique diagnostic and healing functions of literature.