‘I already tore up the letter, that’s good’: Alice Munro and material epistolarity

This article explores the aesthetic impact of letters as material entities in Alice Munro’s short stories. While Munro’s epistolary stories have already been discussed from numerous perspectives, an aspect that has so far garnered only little critical attention is the letter as an emotively charged physical object. As will be demonstrated, the characters’ handling of letters or postcards opens up rich semantic spaces that shed light on the characters’ complex emotional states. These may include anger and rage, guilt and shame or desire and longing but are rarely expressive of only one sentiment. They thus reflect, in a unique manner, Munro’s general interest in ambiguity. As will be shown, paying attention to how characters react to the auratic import of letters, postcards or mailboxes allows for fresh views on Munro’s art of storytelling and character portrayal.