The emotional geography of St. John’s in Megan Gail Coles’ Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to analyze the emotional geography of contemporary St. John’s in the debut novel by Mi’kmaq descent writer Megan Gail Coles (2019). It focuses on how the characters perceive their city, whether it offers a desired haven to outsiders from other parts of Newfoundland and Labrador due to its economic potential or whether it is a site of violent oppression with no family and friends to offer protection and emotional support. The critical tools employed for the analyses borrow from space and literary studies. In particular, the chapter studies the novel through the lens of emotional geography, poverty narrative, and the Gothic, respectively, and demonstrates the ethical involvement of the writer in the critical investigation of classist, sexist, and racist discourses present in contemporary Newfoundland and Labrador.