This essay closely studies several works written by American male writers--either while the author was in an American prison, or shortly after he was released. The first works studied, from the nineteenth century, introduce the themes and questions for the later discussion of the other works, all of which are taken from the twentieth century. A central focus of the essay is on the process by which all of the authors studied attempt a textual reversal of the positions of reader and author. In each of the works, the reader, generally seen as a member of 'outside' society, is portrayed as a representative of the imprisoning society. Thus, the textual confrontation is between a prisoner/author and a warden/reader; and the subsequent reversal that takes place through the medium of the text places the reader in the position of being a prisoner, with the author becoming the prison-authority, or warden. This reversal is used by the authors examined as means or attempt at freeing themselves from both the defining and imprisoning texts of society, as well as from the actual prison where the author finds himself. The writing of the prison-text, therefore, is a verbal act intimately associated with the gaining of various forms of at least visionary freedom.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.23842 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Haslam, Jason W. (Jason William), 1971- |
| Contributors | Gibian, Peter (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of English.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001500481, proquestno: MM12033, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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