Download or read book The Significance of Narrative Strategies in Historiographic Metafiction in Julian Barne s A History of the World in 10 1 2 Chapters written by Annika Klement and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2018-09-14 with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Literature - Comparative Literature, grade: 1,3, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, course: History in Contemporary Novels, language: English, abstract: In this term paper I will discuss how historiographic metafiction “reflects upon its own strategies of writing and constructing histories by drawing attention to the constructedness [and] subjectivity”. For this purpose, I will firstly elaborate the relationship of historio-graphic metafiction and narration in order to examine to which intention the narrative strategies are used by taking the example of the postmodernist novel A History of the World in 10 1⁄2 Chapters by Julian Barnes.

Download or read book Struggling With the Postmodern Crisis of History in Julian Barnes s Flaubert s Parrot 1984 written by Tessa Tumbrägel and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2012-02 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bachelor Thesis from the year 2011 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Passau, language: English, abstract: Flaubert's Parrot, Julian Barnes's most acclaimed novel worldwide, poses and playfully elaborates on questions about traditional(ist) understandings of history and conventional concepts of truth, which are also frequently asked by postmodern theorists and philosophers. How can we know the past? Can we ever do so on objective grounds? Are we not bound to (socio-culturally determined) modes of representation that prevent us from thinking or writing about anything but representation? Does the past even exist outside of our systems of signification or is it merely the product of these systems? In postmodern thought these kinds of questions are raised in the context of an increasing scepticism towards realist or modernist ontology and epistemology. Philosophers and writers such as Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault and later Hayden White and Keith Jenkins testify to the assumption that "history now appears to be just one more foundationless, positioned expression in a world of foundationless, positioned expressions" (Jenkins 1997: 6), stressing that there is an inescapable relativity in every representation (or rather re-interpretation) of historical entities (cf. White 1997: 392). However, in this paper I will hope to show that, despite it being "a very hard [and indeterminate] act to follow" (Barth 1980: 66), history is not dead in Barnes's novel and neither is the pursuit of (its) meaning. In fact, both remain subjects of a longing for truth and authenticity that is repeatedly re-invented, played with, undermined and reinstalled, rather than deconstructed, in the course of FP's narrative. I intend to divide my paper into two sections, each of them further divided into several sub-parts. In section one I will at first provide a short compendium of postmodern philosophical-theoretical assumptions on histo

Download or read book An Interpretation of Julian Barnes Novel England England written by Sirinya Pakditawan and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2007-11 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Hamburg (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: Die englische Literatur der neunziger Jahre, 9 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Numerous contemporary British novels display an almost obsessive concern with the notion of Englishness. Hence, they focus on the myths, traditions and attitudes that are regarded as typically English. With its interest in Englishness, the nature of historical truth, and the blurring of boundaries between the authentic and the imitation, Julian Barnes' novel "England, England" (1998), which was short-listed for the Booker prize in 1998, shares important concerns with many contemporary British novels. Hence, this novel shows all the features characteristic of postmodernist historiographic metafiction. That is to say, like other historiographic metafictions, "England, England" is "both intensely self-reflexive and yet paradoxically also lay[s] claim to historical events and personages." What is more, Barnes' novel also reflects the feature which has been the major focus of attention in most of the critical work on postmodernism, i.e. a self-conscious assessment of the status and function of narrative in literature, history, and theory: "its theoretical self-awareness of history and fiction as human constructs (historiographic metafiction) is made the grounds for its rethinking and reworking of the forms and contents of the past." One might be justified in saying that Barnes' novel explores, constructs, parodies, and deconstructs the 'invented traditions' known as 'Englishness'. The novel incorporates a great number of different traces of the English cultural past, including many myths and legends, juxtaposes competing versions of and discourses about Englishness. Additionally, it also explores the complexity of any account of a nation's organically grown cultural memory and

Download or read book The Writing of History written by Robert H. Canary and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Metafictional Aspects in Novels by Muriel Spark written by Gesa Giesing and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2004-08-30 with total page 63 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examination Thesis from the year 2002 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0 (A), University of Leipzig (Institute for Anglistics), language: English, abstract: ANYTHING WRITTEN IN ENGLISH IS A LIE Anything written in English is a lie. This is by no means a new idea, with many people having given thought and expression to it (recently and rather extensively so, for instance, Jeanette Winterson). One way to handle this sentence is to relate it to the idea that something written can never be reality. That then, though, some things written (or only fictional texts?; or even fictional texts?; or anything produced?) might have a reality of their own, and that finally these realities might be part of another, larger and encompassing reality – they might. There need not be such a larger idea beyond things. All novelists have been faced with the question of how to deal with this multilayered reality, novels that deal with it explicitly being called metafictional novels. Metafictional literature has come up with innumerable ways of handling and playing with the notion of what is being real and what fictitious. Anything written in English is a lie. This sentence is also putting into other words the famous paradox of the Cretan stating that all Cretans are liars. For with both, as with many other paradoxes, the paradox is a result of the statement′s self-reference. Since the statement is written in English, it denies its own truth, which it actually does not if it is a lie – it would stop being a lie then, though. Any attempt to solve the paradox will end in moving in circles. The only way not to go insane when trying to find a solution is to accept that the sentence is made up and that it cannot be true in terms of our familiar logic. Once we view it as artificial, as something that has been made up to be not solvable (which need not be the case), we adopt another perspective and for instance allow ourselves to be entertained by contemplating paradoxes. Confronted with any paradoxical or otherwise inexplicable situation human beings still feel an urge to ascribe explanations and reasons to it and often turn to religion, commonplace theories or superstition to find them. Religions explain how the Earth came into existence. If we drop a cup or spill hot milk, it happened because our boss was being a strain. If we got an unjustified salary rise, the stars would have favoured us. A religious woman might regard it as God’s punishment when she falls in love with her husband’s lover. Seldom are we at a loss for an explanation which we may well believe in but which cannot be proved to be causative...

Download or read book England England written by Julian Barnes and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2012-12-18 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grotesque visionary Sir Jack Pitman has an idea. Since most people are too lazy to travel from landmark to landmark, why not simplify things and create a new England on the Isle of Wight? Unfortunately, his idea is a huge success, and the resulting theme park threatens to supersede the original. Called England, England, it has all the elements of "Old England" in one convenient location. Wander into the new Sherwood Forest and you may spot Robin Hood and his now sexually ambiguous Merrie Men. Or take a stroll to see Stonehenge and Anne Hathaway's Cottage, enjoy a ploughman's lunch atop the White Cliffs of Dover, then pop over to see the Royals, now on contract to Sir Jack, in their scaled-down version of Buckingham Palace. Every detail has been considered: even the postcards come pre-stamped! Julian Barnes' first novel in six years is a ferociously funny examination of the search for authenticity and truth in a fabricated world.

Download or read book Conversations with Julian Barnes written by Julian Barnes and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2009 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Talks with the British author of Flaubert's Parrot and Arthur & George

Download or read book Narcissistic Narrative written by Linda Hutcheon and published by Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. This book was released on 2013-05-22 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Linda Hutcheon, in this original study, examines the modes, forms and techniques of narcissistic fiction, that is, fiction which includes within itself some sort of commentary on its own narrative and/or linguistic nature. Her analysis is further extended to discuss the implications of such a development for both the theory of the novel and reading theory. Having placed this phenomenon in its historical context Linda Hutcheon uses the insights of various reader-response theories to explore the “paradox” created by metafiction: the reader is, at the same time, co-creator of the self-reflexive text and distanced from it because of its very self-reflexiveness. She illustrates her analysis through the works of novelists such as Fowles, Barth, Nabokov, Calvino, Borges, Carpentier, and Aquin. For the paperback edition of this important book a preface has been added which examines developments since first publication. Narcissistic Narrative was selected by Choice as one of the outstanding academic books for 1981–1982.

Download or read book The Fiction of Julian Barnes written by Vanessa Guignery and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2006-01-23 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Julian Barnes's work has been marked by great variety, ranging not only from conventional fiction to postmodernist experimentation in such well-known novels as Flaubert's Parrot (1984) and A History of the World in 10 1⁄2 Chapters (1989), but also from witty essays to deeply touching short stories. The responses of readers and critics have likewise varied, from enthusiasm to scepticism, as the substantial volume of critical analysis demonstrates. This Readers' Guide provides a comprehensive and accessible overview of the essential criticism on Barnes's work, drawing from a selection of reviews, interviews, essays and books. Through the presentation and assessment of key critical interpretations, Vanessa Guignery provides the most wide-ranging examination of his fiction and non-fiction so far, considering key issues such as his use of language, his treatment of history, obsession, love, and the relationship between fact and fiction. Covering all of the novels to date, from Metroland (1981) to Arthur and George (2005), this is an invaluable introduction to the work of one of Britain's most exciting and popular contemporary writers.

Download or read book Stunned into uncertainty written by and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Kurt Vonnegut s Slaughterhouse Five as Historiographic Metafiction written by Markus Schneider and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2008-11-05 with total page 17 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,3, University of Bamberg (Professur für Amerikanistik), course: American Historiographic Metafiction, language: English, abstract: The representation of history depends mainly on the perspective, attitude and cultural background of the beholder; which at the same time marks the major flaw of historiography. One topic or event will never be identically described by two historians, even if they are given the very same materials and sources to work with. As a consequence, historiography can only try to create an image, as true and original as possible, but is never able to depict everything that happened as it actually was in its full scope. So there were and always will be fictional elements and interpretations in the reports and writings about past events. This assumption leads us to historiographic metafiction, a style of writing that emerged during the postmodern era. If there is fiction in scholarly historiography, where is the difference between that and a novel that deals with history? This term paper will try to give an answer to that question and examine features and characteristics of historiographic metafiction, which eventually will be applied to Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. In postmodern literature and, of course, especially in historiographic metafiction, authors tried to find new ways of telling stories and particularly representing history. I will take a closer look at the narrative frame and especially the concept of time Vonnegut used in the novel. But how is history represented in Slaughterhouse-Five? This will be the second part of the analysis that will attempt to find answers why Vonnegut wrote the novel the way he did. The third part will deal with intertextual elements in the novel. All citations from the novel and the pages indicated in brackets are taken from the edition cited below.

Download or read book Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel written by Jane Smiley and published by Alfred A. Knopf. This book was released on 2005 with total page 602 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author celebrates the art of fiction as she looks at one hundred very different examples of the novel, ranging from the classics to little-known gems, and discusses the evolution of the novel and the practice of novel-writing.

Download or read book Chaos Bound written by N. Katherine Hayles and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-03-15 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: N. Katherine Hayles here investigates parallels between contemporary literature and critical theory and the science of chaos. She finds in both scientific and literary discourse new interpretations of chaos, which is seen no longer as disorder but as a locus of maximum information and complexity. She examines structures and themes of disorder in The Education of Henry Adams, Doris Lessing’s Golden Notebook, and works by Stanislaw Lem. Hayles shows how the writings of poststructuralist theorists including Barthes, Lyotard, Derrida, Serres, and de Man incorporate central features of chaos theory.

Download or read book The Intertextuality Between Flaubert s Parrot by Julian Barnes and Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert written by Lisa Hyna and published by . This book was released on 2018-10-04 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,7, LMU Munich, language: English, abstract: This term paper aims to show how the integrated intertextuality has an essential impact on the novel's reception and meaning. It discusses how Barnes intertwined intertextual references into his novel and how these influence its interpretation. On this occasion the term Intertextuality, its development, and the theory it designates will be defined before its usage for literary studies will be discussed. Furthermore, the distinction of the theory will justify the application of mainly Ulrich Broich's and Manfred Pfister's perimeter of intertextuality. Thereafter the analysis of the intertextuality between Flaubert's Parrot and Madame Bovary will be examined in detail while the current studies on the topic are included and compared in the investigation. This is done primarily by means of secondary literature like monographs and essays from literary scholars as well as by interviews with Julian Barnes. The paper concludes with verifying the findings according to Broich and Pfister and estimates its exceptional quality. Presupposed is the knowledge of the novels Flaubert's Parrot and Madame Bovary as well as Julian Barnes's and Gustave Flaubert's basic vita.

Download or read book Homage to Hemingway written by Julian Barnes and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2015-05-23 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Vintage Shorts “Short Story Month” Selection From the Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Sense of an Ending and one of Britain’s greatest writers, a twist on the workshop story and defense of Papa Hemingway, with art, love, ambition mixed in. “Homage to Hemingway” is modeled after the oft-overlooked Ernest Hemingway story “Homage to Switzerland,” a formally experimental work composed of three related vignettes. Here, Barnes composes three portraits of the modern writing life, a rhapsodic, witty and hopeful account of the writer’s search for what is good and what is true. From Barnes’s collection of miscellaneous prose, Through the Window. An eBook short.

Download or read book A Comparison of the Slave Narratives The History of Mary Prince and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass written by Julia Deitermann and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2006-09-18 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: A, San Diego State University, course: The American Renaissance, language: English, abstract: America’s history would lack a significant part without the dark chapter of slavery. The horrors and cruelties of the exploitation of blacks are written down in so-called slave narratives, being told or written by former slaves themselves. In the 19thcentury, both quantity and popularity of this literary form rose, for in the face of the abolitionist struggle against slavery the narratives were published as political documents, designed to increase the opposition. Slave narratives offer a striking insight into the reality of being a slave; they appeal to the readers’ hearts in order to increase their sympathy for slaves and emphasize the inhumanity of the institution and its followers. Having a didactic tone, the narratives speak for equality between whites and African Americans, which are not to be treated as the inferior race, and criticize the religious hypocrisy of the whites. Black people, on the contrary, are regarded as the true worshippers. Moreover, a certain pattern can be traced in most of these narratives as they commonly depict the slave’s growing up, the separation from family and beloved friends, years of cruel treatment, the longing for freedom and the final escape. The characteristics mentioned above are by and large true for the two slave narratives that ought to be analyzed in the following. Both inThe History of Mary Prince and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,the narrators are born into slavery, separated from their families and treated cruelly as slaves. The stories also include religious, sentimental, violent and didactic characteristics. They attempt to overcome society’s prejudices about black people and to support the struggle against slavery. Most important, Prince’sHistoryis written from a female point of view, thus emphasizing domesticity, emotions and faith, whereas Douglass’ Narrative bears the influence of male ideals such as courage, manliness and education. In the following, both similarities and differences between the two slave narratives ought to be analyzed against the background of the genre and its conventions. The first crucial difference betweenThe History of Mary Prince and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass becomes obvious when observing title and subtitle of Douglass’ Narrative which is fully named Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - An American Slave - Written by Himself. [...]

Download or read book Understanding Julian Barnes written by Merritt Moseley and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Assesses the divergent works of a daring English writer.