The Exploration of Human Complexities in Alice Munro’s Short Stories

Abstract

Abstract

Alice Munro is a Canadian short story writer and the recipient of many literary honours, including the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature for her work as ?master of the contemporary short story?, and the 2009 Man Booker International Prize for her lifetime body of work. Munro’s work has been described as having reformed the architecture of short stories, especially in its propensity to move forward and backward in time. Her stories explore human complexities in straightforward prose style. Alice Munro, writing about ordinary people in ordinary situations, creates a portrait of life in all of its complexities. In her magnificently textured stories, she explores the distinction of relationships, the profundity of emotions, and the influence that one’s past has on the present. With a few details, she is able to invoke someone’s character or an entire geographical region. Munro is a master at creating a short story that is as fully developed as a novel. Key words: recipient, reformed, propensity, explore, complexities, portrait, profundity, invoke