History, Man and the Narrative: A Comparative Study of Postmodernist Concepts in Selected Novels by A.S. Byatt & Graham Swift.

Transcription

1 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Higher Education Umm Al-Qura University Faculty of Arts and Administration, Makkah Department of English History, Man and the Narrative: A Comparative Study of Postmodernist Concepts in Selected Novels by A.S. Byatt & Graham Swift. A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of English In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Doctorate of Philosophy In Literature Presented By Afraa Mohammed Nadeem M.Tahir Kutbi Senior Lecturer of English Literature Faculty of Arts and Administration, UQU. Supervised By Dr. Hind Reda Jamal Al-Leil Associate Professor of English Literature Vice Dean of Higher Studies Colleges of Education, King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah / 2009

2 Table of Contents Abstracts... i Acknowledgements... v Preface... vii Chapter One. A Literary Climate: The Framework of Postmodernism and Metafiction... 1 Chapter Two. The Concept of History: Historiographic Metafiction Chapter Three. The Concept of Man: Gender Conflicts, Trauma and Ethics Chapter Four. The Concept of Narrative: Postmodern Techniques Conclusion Works Cited

3 i Abstract Set against postmodernism, especially in Britain, this study analyses four novels written by two contemporary British novelists and belonging to the subgenre of metafiction in relation to three postmodern concepts: history, man, and the narrative. A(ntonia) S(usan) Byatt s (1936- ) Booker Prize winning novel Possession: A Romance (1990) and The Biographer s Tale (2001); and Graham Swift s (1949- ) award winning novel Waterland (1983) and the Booker Prize winning Last Orders (1996), are the subject of the study. Known as a critic and novelist, Byatt debates contemporary issues about art, authorship, creativity, and gender; while Swift is acknowledged as a metafictionist, who tackles ideas of narrative, history, conflicts between the generations, and the place of the individual in the larger scale of events. Both novelists revel in complex narrative strategies and their use of the non-linear narrative technique staple their novels as contemporary metafiction. Chapter one provides the framework of postmodernism, by setting it against modernism; a full investigation of the former is given with particular attention to the form of the novel and to the British locality. This is followed by a survey into metafiction to validate that Byatt and Swift are contemporary writers who practice this mode of writing. Adopting the theories of Hayden White and Peter Brooks, chapter two, the concept of History, highlights various types of narrative desire that direct both narrators and readers in their employment of history, and show how the novel yields a special insight into the important areas of social, cultural, and

4 ii political history in the second half of the twentieth century and the offset of the second millennium. Each novel attempts to control the ambiguities of history by demonstrating the discursive nature of it with that of fiction, thus conforming to what Linda Hutcheon calls historiographic metafiction. Chapter three traces the social and cultural development of man not only to reach a better understanding of the contemporary Man s state of being, but also to prove how the novel form has accommodated man s general development, psyche, and actions. This is achieved through the examination of certain movements, issues on gender, trauma and ethics and aspects of psychoanalysis. Byatt s enduring concerns with man and with moral goodness is implicit in her novels. She delves into personal relationships to explore gender issues and conflicts and the continuity and discontinuity in women s lives over centuries by her use of parallel plots. Looking at history as a form of storytelling, Swift meditates on man s fate and responsibility through history and raises issues of truthfulness, spiritual crisis, identity crisis i.e. the sense of human fragility. Chapter Four illustrates how postmodern concepts and techniques have changed the substance of the Narrative, texts and textuality from the nineteenthcentury Romanticism to the twentieth-century experimentation and fragmentation that postmodernism insists on, as a more accurate reflection of contemporary life. Byatt and Swift employ what has become known as postmodern artifice, to bring us closer, through such current narrative forms, to what they believe as significant values and truths related to the contemporary life. Candidate: Afraa Mohammed Nadeem M.T. Kutbi. Supervisor: Dr. Hind Reda Jamal Al-Leil. Dean: Dr. Anjab Ghulam Nabi.

5 iii يؽررهص انسضاؼح انراض د اإل ؽا أؼه ب انؽطز انط ائ ك فا ى ياتؼس انحساش ح ف أػ ال يرراضج ن أ.غ. تا د جطا او ؼ فد: زضاؼح يماض ح ضؼانح يمسيح نمؽى انهغح اإل جه ع ح تكه ح ا زاب انؼه و اإلزاض ح ك رطهة جعئ نهحص ل ػه زضجح انسكر ضاج ف األزب اإل جه ع ر ا ل صا انثحس زضاؼح ذحه م أضتغ ض ا اخ شنك ي ذالل شالز ي يحا ض حطكح "ياتؼس انحساش ح" : انراض د اإل ؽا أؼه ب انؽطز انط ائ. ر ا ل صا انثحس كاذث إ جه ع يؼاصط ا أ ر ا ؼ ظ تا د.) جطا او ؼ فد )1949- ذص ف أػ ال ص انكاذث ك اشض نهج ػ األزت ان ؼط ف ت ) -1936( "ي رافكش " أ "يا ضاء انط ا ح". األػ ال ان رراضج ن صا انثحس : ض ا را ن أ.غ تا د ذ ه ك: لصح ض يا ؽ ح )1990( انحائعج ػه جائعج ت كط انثط طا ح نهط ا ح ض ا ح حكا ح كاذة ؼ طج ) 2001 ( ض ا را ن ؼ فد أ ضض ان اء )1983( ت كط انثط طا ح. انحائعج ػه انؼس س ي انج ائع ان حه ح األ ضت ح ض ا ح آذط األ ايط )1996( انحائعج ػه جائعج ر ع ا نج ػ األزت "يا ضاء انط ا ح " تصطاء ي ظ ػاذ ذم اذ انر ذم ز تس ض ا نف ى ذمص يجط اخ انؼانى ان ؼاصطنصنك فإ تا د ذطهك انؼ ا ن فؽ ا ف صا انج ػ األزت ذؽرف ط ف اإلشاضج إن ان اظ يؽررسيح ظط اذ األزت ح ذمان س ؼطز األؼاغ ط ػه يط انؼص ض. ان ؼط يا ماته ا ف آزاب انمط انراؼغ ػشط يصال ال. ك ا ذطكع ػه آزاب ػص ض يررهف كانؼص ض أي ا تان ؽثح ن ؼ فد فرؼرثط ض ا اذ شجا ال ج سا ال ن "يا ضاء انط ا ح" شنك إلؼررساي أل ؼان ة انؽطز انط ائ انراصح ت "يا ضاء انط ا ح" ػطظ نهراض د انصطاع ت األج ال ي لغ انفطز ظ زائطج األحساز انكثط. إ يا ج غ ت تا د ؼ فد أ ا جسا ف "يا ضاء انط ا ح" يجاال ال حطا ال نهرغهغل ف إؼرطاذ ج اخ ذم اخ انؽطز انط ائ ان ؼمسج انراصح تط ا اخ حطكح"ياتؼس انحساش ح." ثسأ انفصم األ ل تؼطض يج م نحطكح انحساشح انر ذ ثصك ي ا حطكح "ياتؼس انحساش ح" ف ا رؼهك تانط ا ح انثط طا ح ذحس سا ال. ه شنك ذؼط فا ال يفصال ال ػ انج ػ األزت "يا ضاء انط ا ح" إلشثاخ أ كال ال ي تا د ؼ فد ا كاذثا يؼاصطا جسا ف صا ان ع يجاال ال حطا ال نؽثط أغ اض إؼرطاذ ج اخ ذم اخ انؽطز انط ائ ان ؼمسج. ثحس انفصم انصا ف ان ف و األ ل ي يفا ى حطكح "ياتؼس انحساش ح" يف و انراض د ي ذالل ظط اخ ا س ا د ت دض تط كػ انهصا ؽهطا انع ء ػه ػسج أ ج ألؼان ة انؽطز انط ائ انر ذطك إن انراض د شنك نرر ح نهماضئ فطصح ال نهرثصط انر ؼ ف انج ا ة انراض ر ح انمعا ا ان ح إجر اػ ا ال حعاض ا ال

6 iv ؼ اؼ ا ال ذاصح ال ف ان صف انصا ي انمط انؼشط تسا ح األنف ح انصا ح. ذم و انط ا اخ ان رراضج تر ظ ح ج ا ة انر اظض اإل سياض ت انحم مح انر ال ف انراض د شنك تإتطاظ ا ف ؼ اق جس س ؽؼ إلشثاخ انحم مح. طكع انفصم انصانس ػه ان ف و انصا : اإل ؽا ذط ض اإلجر اػ انحعاض شنك ن ػ نف ى اإل ؽا ان ؼاصط فحؽة تم إلشثاخ أ أزب انط ا ح حاك انرط ض انؼاو نإل ؽا ف اح ان فؽ ح غث ؼح أفؼان. رى شنك ػ غط ك انرحه م إيؼا ان ظط ف انمعا ا انر ذرص انج ؽ لعا ا انصسيح األذالق تؼط اح يسضؼح انرحه م ان فؽ. رعح إ ر او تا د تاإل ؽا ي ذالل ذطك ع ا ػه ان اح األخ الل ح س ذر ا ل انؼاللاخ انشرص ح نرؽهػ انع ء ػه لعا ا انج ؽ ان عاػاخ ت ا ػه يط انؼص ض. رى كم شنك تص ضج ظ ح غ ط يثاشطج ي ذالل إؼررساي ا نرم ح انر اشم ف حثكح انط ا ح. تان ظط إن انراض د تإػرثاض ع ي انؽطز انمصص فإ ؼ فد طكع ػه حاجح ا إل ؽا إن نهرأيم ف غث ؼر انثشط ح لعا ا لسض يص ط األيط انص ص ط لعا ا أذط كان صسال ح األظيح انط ح ح األظيح انشرص ح تإذرصاض حانح اإل كؽاض اإل ؽا ح. أيا انفصم انطاتغ ف ر ا ل ان ف و انصانس: أؼه ب انؽطز انط ائ ح س ظح انرغ طاخ انجصض ح اند أحسشر ا يفا ى حطكح "ياتؼس انحساش ح" ف ذم اخ انؽطز انط ائ ان ص ح ي ص ض يا ر ك ح انمط انراؼغ ػشط إن انرجط ة انرجعئ األزت ح ف انمط انؼشط كإ ؼكاغ أزق أ ظح نهح اج ان ؼاصطج. إ تا د ؼ فد ظفا يا ؼطف ان و ت "تطاػح يا تؼس انحساش ح " تطط مح يرشات ح يررهفح ف آ احس األيط انص ك ا ي ذجؽ س انحم مح ي ذالل أؼان ة انؽطز انط ائ ح ان ؼاصطج نكم يا ؼرمسا ي حمائك ل ى ذ ى اإل ؽا انثشط ح. هقدهت هن ال طال بة: عفراء بنت هحود ندين بن هحود طاهر كتبي التوقيع: بإشراف: د. هند بنت رضا جول الليل التوقيع: توقيع عويدة الكليت: د. أنجب غالم نبي

7 vii Preface The subject of this study presents an analysis of postmodern novels belonging to the sub-genre of metafiction by two contemporary British novelists, A.S. Byatt and Graham Swift. The three concepts of history, man and the narrative are employed as critical approaches. To elaborate, British novelists have exhibited an interest in history in the last two decades that has transformed itself into a veritable obsession. Such a concept addresses the communal concerns i.e. circulation of mutual symptoms, beliefs, and anxieties as a response to a particular moment in history. The selected novels attempt to control the ambiguities of history by allowing historical fact and fiction to merge and overlap to validate truth, and to create a new whole. Closely related to the concept of history is the concept of man. Through the meditation on man, his nature and fate, a connection is found between history and truth. By nature, mankind are inquisitive and have persistently sought to understand themselves and their place in the world. The meditation on the human fate of both genders, and whether it has any meaning or pattern led to another possibility: whether the difference is gender specific? As for the concept of the narrative, it explains how postmodernist techniques have changed the nature of the narrative, texts and textuality. This is accomplished, namely, through the writers implementation of experimental historical plots, multiple voices, fragmentation, impersonation, and ventriloquism. Through the three concepts of history, man and the narrative, the researcher attempts to prove their relevance to the world today and to emphasise

8 viii that these concepts have, indeed, become a part of the postmodernist preoccupations. Thus, the aims of this study are: first, to outline the literary-theoretical background against which the study takes shape, i.e. the movement of postmodernism and the sub-genre of metafiction. Second, this study analyses the works of Byatt and Swift against current theories of criticism, ostensibly in matters as: the question and awareness of the persistence of history and the enduring truths about man. Third, the aim is to prove that postmodernism presents a narrative, which can be interpreted in many ways ranging from historical, psychological, mythical and archetypal approaches to the contemporary approaches of feminism, post-structuralism and deconstruction. The very challenge of writing about postmodern contemporary novels constitutes the main reason for the choice of the study, as such contemporary novels have not yet attracted a vast body of critical writing. However, other reasons have also posed their importance. First, the questions raised by the novels under study and their relevance to our own life and the world of today are a fact that prompts one s desire to seek, learn, know and present matters on what was, what is, and what will be. Second, the everlasting debates which are about male and female writings. Most critics of literature talk about women s writings as if they were somehow different from men s; yet male writers are hardly ever discussed in terms of their gender. By selecting an example of each gender, the researcher attempts to have a neutral stance to prove that it is the work that counts regardless of who writes it. In this respect, the two selected writers of both genders are considered as serious counterparts in their literary fields. A.S.

9 ix Byatt and Graham Swift are celebrated as academics, critics and novelists. Byatt s richness and diversity lie in the Englishness of her style, while admitting to the attractions of the new trends of postmodernism. As for Swift, his works are also profoundly and unmistakably English. Being a postmodernist, he is acutely aware of the influence of the past on the present i.e. of how the persistence of the past permeates contemporary experience. The choice of the selected novels is due to: first, being their authors best works and prize winners. In 1990, Byatt s Possession: A Romance won the Booker Prize for fiction, and the Irish Times / Aer Lingus Literature Prize. In 1991, it was awarded the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region, Best Book). In 1983, Swift s Waterland was short-listed for the Booker Prize for Fiction, won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the Guardian Fiction Prize, the Italian Premio Grinzane Cavour prize, and the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. In 1996, his Last Orders won the Booker Prize for Fiction and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Second, being interrelated in subject matter, the former novels, including Byatt s The Biographer s Tale, mix the historically real with the fictional and contain narrative strands that highlight parallels and contrasts between nineteenth and twentieth century lives. The significance of the study employs the notion that fiction still teaches us how to live, by refining our perceptions and deepening our understanding of life. Once, in 1975, Giles Gordon wrote fiction is no longer a popular art, but few would now agree. The recovery of such genre has owed more to the novelists, and to their ability to address themselves to interesting current concerns and themes in an effective manner. Moreover, it has owed something to

10 x the introduction of prizes and the consequent heightening of public awareness. Another important fact is the quality of fragmentation, which characterises contemporary novels and makes it resemble so much the fragmentation of the contemporary life. The oddity here is that most of the reading public still fail to realise that the contemporary fiction of today is actually a reflection of the life style of today, and herein lays both the irony and the appeal. Through careful patient reading and analysis, this research attempts to substantiate that postmodern novels can be appreciated as much as the Victorian novels, which is also very representative of its people and time. In short, fragmentation is not only a defining characteristic, but a merit in its own right, as [p]ostmodernism insists upon fragmented narrative as a more accurate reflection of unruly life (Lesch 1). The method of research, this dissertation adopts, is the interdisciplinary approach due to its suitability to the diversity of the issues being tackled; namely, the historical, sociological, and psychological, by depending on two methods of treatment. First, analysis: this provides a thorough explanation of the events and characters, based on a set of literary theories, and relates the small details to a developing overall sense of the work, thus, creating logical interpretations and effective judgements. Second, comparison and contrast, which will highlight the similarities and differences of the novels from two angles: (1) as representing views of both genders male and female (2) as literary productions. This dissertation is divided into four chapters preceded by a preface and followed by a conclusion. Chapter One sets the literary climate: the general framework of postmodernism and how it emerged from modernism, followed by a discussion of metafiction as one of postmodernism s modes of writing. This

11 xi study is applied to two contemporary British writers selected novels: A.S. Byatt s Possession: A Romance and The Biographer s Tale, and Graham Swift s Waterland and Last Orders. The chapter concludes with a briefing on the three chosen postmodern concepts: history, man and the narrative. Chapter Two fully explains the first concept of History as applied in postmodernism and how historiography functions in metafiction, in general, and in Byatt and Swift s selected novels, in particular. Chapter Three highlights how the second concept of Man is linked to history. Given that fact, a full tracing of man s social and cultural developments over time is provided to reach a better understanding of the contemporary man. In keeping with the metafictional mode, the chapter examines issues of gender conflicts, trauma and ethics etc. in the selected novels. Chapter Four focuses on the third concept Narrative, as the reflection of history and man. It provides a thorough investigation of not only how narratives are embedded in a network of complex relations, but how the postmodern man has used the narrative to reflect and convey his/her current state. This is substantiated through the narrative techniques employed by both Byatt and Swift in the novels under study. The conclusion is a kind of synthesis of the three concepts in the selected novels of Byatt and Swift, and comparing and contrasting both as British contemporary metafictional writers. Whilst reviewing the literature, it has been found that the novelty of this study lies in its comparative perspective, as it attempts to apply a number of diverse literary critical approaches to the novels in question in relation to the three given concepts. Moreover, it has been found that no study has compared