IGNOU MEG-12 Block 6 Summary | Canadian Short Story
- Last Updated On October 15, 2025
Table of Contents
Here you will get the detailed summary of IGNOU MEG 12 Block 6 – Canadian Short Story.
We have provided the summary of all units starting from unit 1 to unit 4.
Introduction
IGNOU MEG-12 Block 6 focuses on Canadian short stories, tracing their evolution from colonial and nationalist beginnings to multicultural and diasporic narratives. The block begins by contextualising short fiction in Canada and moves on to analyse representative stories by both early and contemporary authors, including Sara Jeannette Duncan, Alice Munro, Rudy Wiebe, Rohinton Mistry, and Uma Parameswaran. Through these stories, students explore themes of colonialism, gender, displacement, cultural negotiation, and the complexities of identity in the Canadian context. The block highlights how the Canadian short story form has developed as a flexible, introspective, and diverse mode of expression.
Unit 1: Short Fiction in General and the Canadian Short Story
This unit introduces the short story as a literary genre, discussing its characteristics—brevity, focus, and intensity—while also emphasizing its adaptability to different cultures and periods.
In the Canadian context:
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The short story gained prominence in the 20th century due to the country’s scattered population, regional diversity, and multicultural ethos.
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Early stories were often shaped by colonial concerns and the landscape, while later stories reflected urban realities, indigenous voices, and immigrant experiences.
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Canadian short fiction often grapples with liminality, fragmentation of identity, and unresolved endings, which reflect broader existential uncertainties and cultural pluralism.
This unit lays the theoretical groundwork for the detailed analysis of individual stories that follow.
Unit 2: A Mother in India – Sara Jeannette Duncan
This unit explores Sara Jeannette Duncan’s short story as a representative of colonial-era Canadian literature. The story, originally published in the late 19th century, reflects both imperial ideologies and early feminist undertones.
Key themes:
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Emotional alienation and maternal distance: The protagonist returns to India to meet a child she had left behind, but fails to connect emotionally.
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Colonial dislocation: The setting of colonial India, narrated from a Canadian perspective, creates an atmosphere of cultural estrangement.
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Gender and autonomy: The story portrays a woman negotiating her independence, but caught within the constraints of imperial patriarchy.
The story uses irony, detachment, and subtle critique to question both maternal instinct and the moral legitimacy of the colonial enterprise.
Unit 3: Sunday Afternoon – Alice Munro and Where is the Voice Coming From? – Rudy Wiebe
This unit brings together two iconic voices in contemporary Canadian short fiction, showcasing the diverse narrative strategies of Alice Munro and Rudy Wiebe.
Sunday Afternoon by Alice Munro:
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A subtle story about female subjectivity and sexual power dynamics.
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The young protagonist, raised in a working-class family, navigates complex emotions during a visit to a doctor’s house.
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Munro’s prose is quietly revelatory, using detail and interiority to explore class divisions, vulnerability, and awakening.
Where is the Voice Coming From? by Rudy Wiebe:
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A powerful story rooted in Indigenous-Settler relations.
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Focuses on cross-cultural misunderstanding, historical trauma, and moral ambiguity.
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Wiebe’s narrative, filled with intensity and fragmented voices, reflects his concern with truth, history, and reconciliation.
Together, these stories highlight the emotional richness and political urgency of the Canadian short story tradition.
Unit 4: Swimming Lessons – Rohinton Mistry and The Door is Shut Behind Me – Uma Parameswaran
This unit explores diasporic perspectives in Canadian short fiction, focusing on two writers of South Asian origin who examine themes of migration, memory, and identity.
Swimming Lessons by Rohinton Mistry:
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A reflective, semi-autobiographical story about an immigrant’s nostalgia and the tension between past and present.
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Set in Toronto but haunted by Bombay, the narrative blurs the lines between fiction and memory.
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Mistry uses a layered narrative to explore alienation, cultural loss, and the untranslatable nuances of belonging.
The Door is Shut Behind Me by Uma Parameswaran:
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Centers on a South Asian woman’s inner life in Canada.
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Explores the negotiation between traditional expectations and modern realities, particularly regarding marriage, family, and autonomy.
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Parameswaran’s simple yet poignant prose brings forth the invisible burdens carried by diasporic women.
These stories reflect how immigrant narratives have transformed Canadian literature, offering new linguistic textures, themes, and cultural vocabularies.