Seite 60 [60]
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CANADIAN LANDSCAPES/ PAYSAGES CANADIENS Dudek views Hagar’s act of peacefully imprinting her finger on nature as “simultaneous marking and being marked,” signifying Hagar’s growing acceptance of her identity as a part of the surrounding world (250). The moment of reconciliation with the landscape parallels Hagar’s inner transformation — she starts to acknowledge, but also to question, her past, her experiences, and the environment that shaped her. Decorating her hair with dead June bugs further underscores Hagar’s willingness to embrace the beauty of the natural world and to be transformed by it. Hagar moves from the Pioneer’s perception of the landscape as an enemy that must be dominated to understanding that the natural landscape can enrich her life and be an integral part of her Self and vice versa. Hagar’s escape to the wilderness is not just a physical journey but also a psychological and emotional exploration of her identity and past experiences. Through Hagar’s story, Laurence challenges the notion of settler supremacy and emphasizes the importance of embracing diversity and different perspectives. Hagar’s dual journey through the material world and a landscape of memories unfolds in the present, with past recollections triggered by details like colours or scents. These recollections serve as portals to crucial moments of her life, allowing her to revisit and reconsider her past actions and beliefs, leading to her eventual reconciliation with her past self. This process resonates with the concept of “life review”, the term coined by Robert Butler for a natural process involving the resurgence of past experiences and conflicts to be “surveyed and reintegrated” (66). Through this introspective journey, Hagar reconciles with her past mistakes and unresolved conflicts, facilitating personal transformation even in advanced old age. Amid wilderness, where Hagar confronts the challenges of nature and her own internal conflicts, her memories intertwine with the landscape, offering a space for self-discovery and reconciliation. ANCESTRAL AND MYTHOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES Unlike Hagar in The Stone Angel, who grew up in a pretentious brick house symbolizing Pioneer pride, Morag Gunn, the protagonist of The Diviners, had a starkly different childhood. Orphaned and raised by foster parents near the Manawaka town dump, Morag grapples with feelings of outcast status anda yearning to connect to her roots. Christie Logan, her foster father, weaves imaginative tales of mythical ancestors for Morag — Piper Gunn and his wife Morag, who led their people from Scotland to the new country -, a narrative steeped in the “legends of dispossessed newcomers [...] wandering people seeking deliverance in a new land” (Foster Stovel 200). Christie’s storytelling provides little Morag with a sense of belonging, cultural heritage, and family mythology, nurturing her desire for a different life. Morag hopes to escape her « 58 «
