Mad for certainties in an uncertain world: heteroglossia in the novels of Robertson Davies, 1970-1988

Abstract

This work examines various aspects of language in the novels of Robertson Davies written between 1970 and 1988, exploring the heteroglot nature of his fiction. The concept of heteroglossia, developed by the Russian theorist Mikhail Bakhtin in his work on the novel, provides a view of the genre that is particularly suited to Davies's fiction. One of the main forms for bringing heteroglossia into the novel is the incorporation of other genres. Davies variously incorporates the genres of autobiography, biography, history, the letter, the diary, and travel notes into Fifth Business, The Manticore, World of Wonders, The Rebel Angels, What's Bred in the Bone, and The Lyre of Orpheus, as well as utilizing myth and legend in the novels. The presence of these incorporated genres shapes the voice of the narrators and characters. As each genre carries within it its own conventions, these conventions furnish the novelist with a language of genre. Heteroglossia enters the novel in other ways. The speech of individual characters, the language of professions, social classes, generations, and aspects of literary form, such as plot and imagery, are all active in the novels and contribute to the dialogic nature of Davies's fiction. The power of language to create reality and to re-create the past is a central theme in the Deptford trilogy; Davies emphasizes the role of naming as central to the characters' views of themselves. Other languages that communicate in the novels are the language of childhood and the language of women. Davies acknowledges the full humanity of children while recognizing their vulnerability in the world, which is often a dangerous and abusive place. His depiction of women is varied; he shows them both as victims of a patriarchal society and as strong, creative individuals who attempt to define themselves in their own terms. A central thematic unity in all of the novels is the creation of a new kind of hero/heroine who undertakes the journey inward in search of the self, using language to chart that self.