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Oscar Wilde and Postmodern Thought

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Oscar Wilde and Postmodern Thought Oscar Wilde and Postmodern Thought Kees de Vries PhD Candidate Bangor University December 2012 i Abstract This thesis explores the work and critical thought of Oscar Wilde from the perspective of postmodernism, and presents the argument that Wilde’s thinking can be read as strikingly similar to various postmodern approaches. It positions Wilde as a ‘proto-postmodernist’: not as a forerunner of postmodernism, nor a full postmodernist, but rather someone who employs ideas and practices that would now commonly be regarded as postmodern, but who had those ideas and engaged in those practices before postmodernism arrived on the scene. The thesis is divided into three parts, each of which groups similar theoretical fields in a discussion of similarities (and, sometimes, differences) between Wilde and postmodernism. In part one, the discussion moves from a basic look at binaries, though deconstruction, to a discussion of truth and falsehood in postmodernism. In part two, there is a discussion on simulacra, hyperreality, and postmodern ideas on surface and depth. Finally, the third part discusses the disappearance of a naturally delineated field of expertise by discussing intertextuality, word and music studies, moving finally to ekphrasis and postmodern theories on the photograph. ii Dedication For Anniek, the most wonderful and patient woman in the world. iii Table of Contents ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... I DEDICATION .......................................................................................................II TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................. III PREFACE ......................................................................................................... VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................... VIII DECLARATION AND CONSENT ............................................................... IX INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 Wilde and Postmodernism ................................................................................................ 2 Contexts ........................................................................................................................... 7 Approaches..................................................................................................................... 18 Synopsis ......................................................................................................................... 30 PART 1 POSTMODERN FOUNDATIONS ............................................33 Chapter I Binaries and the Wildean Epigram ........................................................... 34 Binary Oppositions ......................................................................................................... 38 Binary Inversion in Wilde’s Works ................................................................................. 45 Surface, Symbol and the Tertium Quid ............................................................................ 52 Collapsing Binaries in the Essays and the Plays ............................................................... 56 iv Chapter II Deconstruction ........................................................................................... 64 Deconstruction ............................................................................................................... 65 Derrida and Wilde .......................................................................................................... 75 Creativity in Deconstruction and the Critic as Artist ........................................................ 80 Deconstruction and ‘The Soul of Man Under Socialism’.................................................. 92 Chapter III Truth, Lying and Crime............................................................................ 97 Postmodern Attitudes towards Truth and Reality ............................................................. 98 Wildean attitudes towards Truth .................................................................................... 105 Nature and Lying: The Arboreal and the Rhyzomatic .................................................... 112 The Monstrous .............................................................................................................. 120 Wilde and Postmodern Crime Fiction ............................................................................ 124 PART 2 THE NATURE OF REALITY ................................................ 136 Chapter IV Simulacra ................................................................................................ 137 The Simulacrum in Postmodernism ............................................................................... 140 Love and the Soul as Simulacra..................................................................................... 145 Simulacra and Personification ....................................................................................... 153 The Power of Mr. W. H.’s Simulacrum ......................................................................... 163 Chapter V Hyperreality ............................................................................................. 169 The Hyperreal ............................................................................................................... 170 Hyperreality in Intentions.............................................................................................. 175 Crime, Punishment and the Real.................................................................................... 184 Magical Realism in The Picture of Dorian Gray ............................................................ 193 Chapter VI Portraiture, Reading and the Surface ..................................................... 200 Surfaces ........................................................................................................................ 201 Reader Response .......................................................................................................... 207 v Portraiture and the Surface ............................................................................................ 216 (Auto)biography as Portraiture ...................................................................................... 223 PART 3 CROSSING BOUNDARIES .................................................... 233 Chapter VII Intertextuality and Plagiarism................................................................ 235 Theories of Intertextuality ............................................................................................. 237 Wilde and Intertextuality: Intentions ............................................................................. 242 The Plagiarist’s Game: Wilde’s Intertextual Poetry........................................................ 248 Intertextuality in Wilde’s Fiction ................................................................................... 262 Wilde’s Theatre as Intertextual ...................................................................................... 268 Chapter VIII Words and Music .................................................................................. 271 Wilde: Rhythm, Poetry, Music ...................................................................................... 273 Vagueness and the Difficulty of Musical Description .................................................... 280 The ‘Puerile’................................................................................................................. 286 Salome ......................................................................................................................... 294 Chapter IX Ekphrasis ................................................................................................. 301 Ekphrasis: Some Definitions ......................................................................................... 303 Ekphrasis in Intentions .................................................................................................. 308 Paintings, Portraits and Imagined Images ...................................................................... 314 Photography and Ekphrasis ........................................................................................... 319 Double Coding ............................................................................................................. 324 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 328 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................... 335 Primary Sources ............................................................................................................ 335 vi Secondary Sources ........................................................................................................ 336 vii Preface The following document contains a theoretical discussion undertaken as part of a PhD thesis by Kees de Vries. It reflects four years of research and writing on Wilde as a proto-postmoderist. Though no part of the current thesis has been published prior to this moment, a condensed version of the discussion in Part 3 of the present thesis was previously published as part of the 2011 volume Refiguring Oscar Wilde’s Salome (edited
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