Embodying the Global Metropolis: Tessa McWatt's This Body and Out of My Skin

<p>This essay looks at two novels by Tessa McWatt, at her first novel <em>Out of My Skin</em> (1998), set in Montreal, and at one of her later novels<em> This Body</em> (2004), set in London, Toronto, and Guiana. Both novels address issues of origin and belonging, of na...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Caroline Rosenthal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca 2014-12-01
Series:Canada and Beyond
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.uhu.es/publicaciones/ojs/index.php/CanadaBeyond/article/view/3013
_version_ 1811256526253326336
author Caroline Rosenthal
author_facet Caroline Rosenthal
author_sort Caroline Rosenthal
collection DOAJ
description <p>This essay looks at two novels by Tessa McWatt, at her first novel <em>Out of My Skin</em> (1998), set in Montreal, and at one of her later novels<em> This Body</em> (2004), set in London, Toronto, and Guiana. Both novels address issues of origin and belonging, of nationhood, and of the global metropolis, and in both novels the female protagonists change urban space in practices which bring the knowledge, habits, and stories of other places into the city. As the novels' titles already indicate, these practices have a distinctly corporeal component to them as McWatt’s protagonists experience their losses and migratory displacements through their bodies and try to inscribe their difference into the space of the city. Daphne in <em>Out of My Skin</em> and Victoria in <em>This Body</em> counteract their feelings of disembodiment and displacement in embodied practices. This essay focuses on walking and cooking as two quotidian practices which physically engage us in understanding the world and which defy the Western body/mind split.</p><p> </p>
first_indexed 2024-04-12T17:41:32Z
format Article
id doaj.art-7111e9c1c9c745579b31616d0b78aa13
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2254-1179
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-12T17:41:32Z
publishDate 2014-12-01
publisher Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca
record_format Article
series Canada and Beyond
spelling doaj.art-7111e9c1c9c745579b31616d0b78aa132022-12-22T03:22:47ZengEdiciones Universidad de SalamancaCanada and Beyond2254-11792014-12-014110.33776/candb.v4i1.30132580Embodying the Global Metropolis: Tessa McWatt's This Body and Out of My SkinCaroline Rosenthal0University of Jena<p>This essay looks at two novels by Tessa McWatt, at her first novel <em>Out of My Skin</em> (1998), set in Montreal, and at one of her later novels<em> This Body</em> (2004), set in London, Toronto, and Guiana. Both novels address issues of origin and belonging, of nationhood, and of the global metropolis, and in both novels the female protagonists change urban space in practices which bring the knowledge, habits, and stories of other places into the city. As the novels' titles already indicate, these practices have a distinctly corporeal component to them as McWatt’s protagonists experience their losses and migratory displacements through their bodies and try to inscribe their difference into the space of the city. Daphne in <em>Out of My Skin</em> and Victoria in <em>This Body</em> counteract their feelings of disembodiment and displacement in embodied practices. This essay focuses on walking and cooking as two quotidian practices which physically engage us in understanding the world and which defy the Western body/mind split.</p><p> </p>http://www.uhu.es/publicaciones/ojs/index.php/CanadaBeyond/article/view/3013metrópolis globalgénero y espacioprácticas corporealizadascaminarcocinarflaneur
spellingShingle Caroline Rosenthal
Embodying the Global Metropolis: Tessa McWatt's This Body and Out of My Skin
Canada and Beyond
metrópolis global
género y espacio
prácticas corporealizadas
caminar
cocinar
flaneur
title Embodying the Global Metropolis: Tessa McWatt's This Body and Out of My Skin
title_full Embodying the Global Metropolis: Tessa McWatt's This Body and Out of My Skin
title_fullStr Embodying the Global Metropolis: Tessa McWatt's This Body and Out of My Skin
title_full_unstemmed Embodying the Global Metropolis: Tessa McWatt's This Body and Out of My Skin
title_short Embodying the Global Metropolis: Tessa McWatt's This Body and Out of My Skin
title_sort embodying the global metropolis tessa mcwatt s this body and out of my skin
topic metrópolis global
género y espacio
prácticas corporealizadas
caminar
cocinar
flaneur
url http://www.uhu.es/publicaciones/ojs/index.php/CanadaBeyond/article/view/3013
work_keys_str_mv AT carolinerosenthal embodyingtheglobalmetropolistessamcwattsthisbodyandoutofmyskin