A POWERFUL PRESENCE - IMAGES OF THE GRANDMOTHER IN CANADIAN LITERATURE

In contrast to the negative images which attend old women in many soci al and statistical reports, literary gerontology provides a framework which allows us to see old women as complex and integrated figures. Ca nadian literature offers numerous examples of powerful old women who d efy reductive stereotypes, Literary grandmothers, particularly when th ey appear in pairs, force a recognition of the integrating and mediati ng powers of old women. This paper discusses four Canadian novels in w hich pairs of grandmothers can be seen to supply a structural matrix w hich orders and supports the growth and development of future generati ons. Through the old women in these novels we may recognize the tradit ion of the mythic Great Mother in whose image we recognize the full po wer of our witches, wise women and ordinary old grandmothers.