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Katedra Anglistiky a Amerikanistiky Magisterská Masarykova univerzita Filozofická fakulta Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky Magisterská diplomová práce 2020 Anna Janíková Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Bc. Anna Janíková The Analysis of Postmodernist Features in Ali Smith’s Seasonal Novels Master’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A. 2020 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature I would like to thank my supervisor prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A. for her kindness and helpful guidance. Table of Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................... 6 1 Welcome to Postmodernism ......................................................................... 11 1.1 Introducing Postmodernism ................................................................... 11 1.2 Lyotard and the Grand Narratives ......................................................... 14 1.3 Postmodernism in Literature ................................................................. 22 2 The Collage of The Seasons: Fragmentation and Temporality..................... 27 2.1 Look Who’s Talking: The Narrative Voices in the Seasonal Quartet ... 29 2.2 There Is No Time Like the Present: The Seasonal Novels and Time .... 35 3 Intertextuality in Autumn, Winter and Spring ............................................... 44 3.1 Shall I Compare Thee to a Shakespeare’s Play ..................................... 45 3.2 Huxley, Dickens and The Little Red Cap .............................................. 50 3.3 Blake and Other ‘Arty-art’ .................................................................... 56 4 The Critique of Postmodern Culture in the Seasonal Novels ....................... 59 4.1 Cultural recycling and the Mass Media ................................................. 59 4.2 Amusing Oneself to Death .................................................................... 62 5 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 71 6 Works Cited .................................................................................................. 73 7 Resumé .......................................................................................................... 78 8 Resume .......................................................................................................... 79 Introduction The purpose of this thesis is to analyse several features of postmodern writing in three selected works by Ali Smith, namely Autumn, Winter and Spring. The novels are three out of the four-part seasonal quartet, which is currently Ali Smith’s latest project. The final and concluding part Summer is announced to be published on 2 July 2020. In the thesis, the aim is to analyse intertextuality, fragmentation and temporal distortion in the unfinished seasonal quartet. Furthermore, it seeks to examine how the novels reflect contemporary postmodern culture. Although Smith uses the stylistic features of literary postmodernism in Autumn, Winter and Spring, she also draws attention to the negative consequences of postmodernity manifested in mindless consumerism, cultural recycling, or the dangerous manipulating power of the mass media. Smith claims that she had the idea for the seasonal quartet long before she started writing it. In fact, in an article for the Guardian, Ali Smith confessed that the idea of writing a set of books carrying the title of each season had captivated her mind since the time she became a writer. She intended to create “four books, written close to their publication (in the old Victorian mode, published practically as soon as written) that they would be about not just their times, but the place where time and the novel meet” (Smith “‘Brexit's Divisions Are Fracturing Our Time’: Ali Smith On Writing Autumn”). Smith claims that she conceives the books as a “sort of time-sensitive experiment”, an important criterion being that the books will be “as up-to-the-moment as possible” (Smith “Ali Smith: ‘This Young Generation Is Showing Us That We Need To Change and We Can Change”). Rosefield neatly characterizes the three parts of the seasonal quartet when she writes that the novels “travel backwards and forwards throughout the 20th century, creating a patchwork of individual and cultural memory and forgetfulness that sets linear time against cyclical time” (43). The passage of time and its cyclicity as well as the tricks that it often plays on human memory are vital themes in all three 6 novels. Therefore, one of the chapters of the thesis, “The Collage of the Seasons: Fragmentation and Temporality in Autumn, Winter and Spring” is devoted to their discussion. The first of the novels, Autumn, was published in 2016 only a few months after the United Kingdom European Union Membership Referendum, in which UK citizens voted to leave the EU. The Brexit vote and its consequences are thematized in this novel. In book reviews and newspaper articles, Autumn is often being referred to as a “Brexit novel” or even a “post-Brexit novel”1. In Autumn, however, there are other themes apart from politics which deserve the attention of the reader and the critic. The novel presents two central characters: Elisabeth Demand and Daniel Gluck, who are bound together by a loving friendship. Elisabeth is in her thirties and lectures art history at a university. As readers later find out, Elisabeth has spent a considerable portion of her life being platonically in love with Daniel, which prevents her from having any long-term functional relationship. Daniel is 101 years old. He is slowly approaching the final phase of his life. Lying in a hospital bed, he dreams in his sleep throughout most of his last days. In other words, he is “dreaming his death” (Akins “Ali Smith Begins a New Quartet of Novels with ‘Autumn’”). The plot does not play an essential role in the book. Instead, in a series of fragments, the readers learn about the character’s lives and the nature of their relationships. In November 2017, Winter was published. Once again, it focuses on the lives of multiple characters of different generations. The central duo are two elderly sisters with contrasting personalities. In her youth, Iris was rebellious and wild, while her sister Sophia was always the “good girl”, conservative and reserved. Although the sisters loved each other dearly when they were children, their relationship deteriorated when Iris left from home one 1 The label “post-Brexit” is noteworthy because the novel was published before Brexit happened. Thus, it can be suggested that like in the word “postmodern” the prefix post does not refer to temporality (in the meaning of “after-Brexit”) instead it follows from Brexit; it is a reaction against it, in the same way in which postmodernism is a reaction to and a consequence of modernism. Furthermore, there is also a particular resonance between the words “post-Brexit” and the word “postmodern” as will be discussed further in the chapter “Welcome to Postmodernism”. 7 day. Winter is set around Christmas in winter 2017. Iris comes on a surprise visit to Sophie’s house, and the sisters attempt once more after many years to find a way to one another. Apart from the sister’s story, the novel depicts the life struggles of Sophie’s son Arthur, who continually fails at finding his place in the contemporary society. Most of all, Arthur struggles to find his authentic self. In his search for his true self, he is unexpectedly aided by a young and free-spirited girl named Lux, whom he hires to pretend to be his ex-girlfriend Charlotte as he comes to visit his mother for Christmas. Winter is concerned with contemporary politics the same as the previous novel Autumn. Apart from politics, Winter also deals with the environment and the global refugee crisis. Winter was followed by for now the last published novel Spring in 2019. In short, the third part of the quartet, Spring “is about truth, art and historical injustice; it is about the magic of coincidence and the urgent need to break the cycle of misinformation that has us careering towards climatic cataclysm” (Armistead “Ali Smith: ‘This Young Generation Is Showing Us That We Need to Change and We Can Change’”). A foursome of characters play a central role in the story of Spring. An ageing film and TV director, Richard Lease, whose career peaked in 1970 and now it is on the decline. Richard is about to start filming a novel adaptation of a book about two great writers, Katharine Mansfield, and Rainer Marie, who in 1922 spent a few months in the same hotel in Switzerland but never met. Nevertheless, the film executives crave the profit, so instead of a sensitive picture, they are forcing Richard to create a shallow but popular hit which is likely to earn money. Richard, who grieves the death of his dear friend and ex-lover Paddy, falls into a mental crisis. The second part of the book reveals the story of Brittany Hall, a DCO (detention custody officer) at one of the IRCs2. She is employed by a private security company SA4A. Brittany, disillusioned by working in the IRC, regains her spirits when she meets an exceptional 12-year-old girl Florence, who 2 The abbreviation IRC stands for International Removal Centre. 8 gradually softens her cynical heart after she cunningly convinces Brittany to accompany her on her
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