Visuality and Materiality in the Contemporary North American Novel

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Sofie Behluli, PhD Thesis Abstract Visuality and Materiality in the Contemporary North American Novel Since notions of ‘truth’ and ‘subject’ were deconstructed and grand narratives were abolished during postmodernism, the driving force of my PhD project is to investigate how North American literature, which is inherently engaged in cultural processes of meaning-making, has dealt with this destabilization of meaning. Many influential contemporary writers – e.g. Jonathan Franzen and Siri Hustvedt – have turned their back on the ‘cerebral aesthetics’ and never-ending postmodernist play, signaling a move towards a new period in which concepts of the body, the senses, materiality or community experience a revival. Researchers in the humanities have pronounced the ‘visual turn’, the ‘material turn’ and are currently investigating ‘post-postmodernism’. I would like to examine how these different aspects are connected in the contemporary North American novel, while keeping the digital age and its repercussions on concepts such as Benjamin’s ‘aura’ and original vs. (digital) reproductions in mind. This inherently interdisciplinary PhD project is grounded in literary research and centers on the close and wide reading (Hallet 2010) of novels by Donna Tartt, Siri Hustvedt, Anthony Doerr, Philip Roth, and others. The tools from the field of intermediality and materiality studies are best suited to tackle this intersection of literature, art history, the material world and visual phenomena. Amongst other concepts and ideas, I want to focus on the ancient concept of ‘ekphrasis’ – the verbal representation of a visual representation (Heffernan 1993). The results I have yielded so far by analyzing Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch (2013) suggest that ekphrasis has acquired a presence-creating and aura-enhancing function (cf. Walter Benjamin’s concept of ‘aura’, 1935), among many others. In my PhD project I wish to expand the corpus and to investigate questions such as why materiality in literature has become so important in our digital age, or why there are so many ekphrases in an era where images are ubiquitous and easily accessible on the World Wide Web. .

Copy Link

Recommended publications

K. Kusano 1 Kaede Kusano Mr. Ahumada ENG 4U1-09 28
K. Kusano 1 Kaede Kusano Mr. Ahumada ENG 4U1-09 28 September 2018 The Human Stain ’s Lasting Mark Set in 1998, The Human Stain by Philip Roth centers around veteran professor Coleman Silk, who loses his job over accusations of racism surrounding a comment made about two students. His resignation precedes the death of his wife and another scandal, an affair with a woman thirty years his junior. As his life continues to unravel, Silk’s identity and history are explored, leaving a lifelong secret to be unearthed. The novel is the final installment of The American Trilogy, which consists of two other works, American Pastoral (1997) and I Married a Communist (1998). Furthermore, Roth has penned over twenty-two other novels (Roth), earning him many awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and The National Book Award over his career of fifty years (PBS). Though, his success does not come without controversy; Roth has faced backlash due to the explicit nature of some of his narratives, as well as his satirical response to anti-Semitism (Roth). I took to this novel due to its mature themes and heavier subject matter. I prefer to be around people my senior, and enjoy both literature and films that focus on the lives of adults, such as Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, a television series and novel that revolves around three mothers in an affluent Californian town. Additionally, the level of difficulty was enticing because I appreciate a challenging read. Roth’s writing is sharp, with notes of lewdness that compliment and balance out the beautiful imagery that immerses the reader in the narrative.
[Show full text]
Making the Most of the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction in Your Library, Bookstore, and Reading Group
Making the most of the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction in your library, bookstore, and reading group The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction recognize the best fiction title and best nonfiction title for adults published the previous year in the U.S. The awards offer you programming opportunities, help you highlight outstanding titles, and can encourage your patrons to read books recog- nized for their excellence by a selection committee of library professionals. Generate excitement in your community Use your social media channels, websites, newsletters, and other communications to share the news of the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, and have people tweet using the #ala_carnegie hashtag to join the wider conversation. As well as your own information, it might be helpful to include a link to ala.org/carnegieadult where people can find background on the award as well as useful links. The links to the publishers’ web sites (often including reading guides) offer detailed information, dis- cussion questions, and insights on each title. Create displays of the winning and finalist titles in your library Use the “Resources” tab where you found this overview to enhance your displays! You can also use the an- notations for each title as listed below and quotes from the Booklist reviews. Want add the seals to the books in your collections? Award seals for the covers of any winning and finalist books you include in your display are available from the ALA online store. For questions regarding other uses of the images of the seals or medals in displays, please contact [email protected].
[Show full text]
The Goldfinch, Was Published in 2013
— A U T H O R B I O — — R E A D A L I K E S — Donna Tartt is an American writer The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh who received critical acclaim for her first two novels, The Secret History (1992) and The Little Friend (2002). Tartt was the 2003 winner of the WH Smith Literary Award for The Little The story of a woman whose Friend. gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even The daughter of Don and Taylor Tartt, as she struggles to overcome she was born in Greenwood, Missis- her own past sippi but raised 32 miles away in Gre- nada, Mississippi. At age five, she wrote her first poem, and she first saw publication in a Mississippi literary review when she was 13 years old. Enrolling in the University of Mississippi in 1981, she pledged Great Expectations by Charles Dickens to the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma. Her writing caught the attention of Willie Morris while she was a freshman. Follow- ing a recommendation from Morris, Barry Hannah, then an The orphan, Pip, and the convict, Ole Miss Writer-in-Residence, admitted Tartt into his gradu- Magwitch, the beautiful Estella, ate short story course where, stated Hannah, she ranked higher than the graduate students. Following the suggestion and her guardian, the embittered of Morris and others, she transferred to Bennington College and vengeful Miss Havisham, the in 1982. ambitious lawyer, Mr. Jaggers -- all Tartt began writing her first novel, originally titled "The God have a part to play in the mystery.
[Show full text]
Text Interpretation=Интерпретация Текста [Электронный Ресурс] : Методическое Пособие По Интерпретации Текста Для Студентов Высших Учебных Заведений / О
Министерство науки и высшего образования Российской Федерации Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Уральский государственный педагогический университет» Институт иностранных языков Кафедра английского языка, методики и переводоведения О. И. Василенко, С. О. Макеева, В. П. Пылайкина, Н. Г. Шехтман TTEEXXTT IINNTTEERRPPRREETTAATTIIOONN МЕТОДИЧЕСКОЕ ПОСОБИЕ ПО ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИИ ТЕКСТА Екатеринбург 2018 УДК 811.111'42 ББК Ш143.21-9-51 Т30 Рекомендовано Ученым советом федерального государственного бюджетного образовательного учреждения высшего образования «Уральский государственный педагогический университет» в качестве учебного издания (Решение № 143 от 19.12.2018) Рецензенты: О. Г. Алифанова, канд. филол. наук, доцент кафедры АФиСЯ, Ураль- ский государственный педагогический университет О. В. Томберг, канд. филол. наук, доцент кафедры иностранных языков и перевода, Уральский федеральный университет им. первого Прези- дента России Б. Н. Ельцина Т30 Text Interpretation=интерпретация текста [Электронный ресурс] : методическое пособие по интерпретации текста для студентов высших учебных заведений / О. И. Василенко [и др.] ; Урал. гос. пед. ун-т. – Электрон. дан. – Екатеринбург : [б. и.], 2018. – 1 электрон. опт. диск (CD-ROM). ISBN 978-5-7186-1107-6 Методическое пособие включает тексты и задания по интерпретации текста для студентов IV и V курса очного и заочного отделения. Мате- риалы могут быть использованы на аудиторных занятиях и при само- стоятельной работе по данному предмету. УДК 811.111'42 ББК Ш143.21-9-51 © Василенко О. И., Макеева С.О., Пылайкина В. П., Шехтман Н. Г., 2018 ISBN 978-5-7186-1107-6 © ФГБОУ ВО «УрГПУ», 2018 Коллеге, наставнику, Учителю Это учебное пособие – дань уважения и памяти Наталии Алексе- евне Постоловской, одному из старейших, бессменных преподавателей института иностранных языков УрГПУ, ученице И. В. Арнольд. Н.
[Show full text]
Addition to Summer Letter
May 2020 Dear Student, You are enrolled in Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition for the coming school year. Bowling Green High School has offered this course since 1983. I thought that I would tell you a little bit about the course and what will be expected of you. Please share this letter with your parents or guardians. A.P. Literature and Composition is a year-long class that is taught on a college freshman level. This means that we will read college level texts—often from college anthologies—and we will deal with other materials generally taught in college. You should be advised that some of these texts are sophisticated and contain mature themes and/or advanced levels of difficulty. In this class we will concentrate on refining reading, writing, and critical analysis skills, as well as personal reactions to literature. A.P. Literature is not a survey course or a history of literature course so instead of studying English and world literature chronologically, we will be studying a mix of classic and contemporary pieces of fiction from all eras and from diverse cultures. This gives us an opportunity to develop more than a superficial understanding of literary works and their ideas. Writing is at the heart of this A.P. course, so you will write often in journals, in both personal and researched essays, and in creative responses. You will need to revise your writing. I have found that even good students—like you—need to refine, mature, and improve their writing skills. You will have to work diligently at revising major essays.
[Show full text]
Interview Summary Sheet Project: Memories of Fiction: an Oral History of Readers’ Lives
Interview Summary Sheet Project: Memories of Fiction: An Oral History of Readers’ Lives Reference No. Interviewee name and title: Brenda Casey Interviewee DOB and place of birth: Luton, Bedfordshire Interviewee Occupation: Teacher and literacy coordinator Book group(s) attended: Alvering Date(s) of recording: 8th October 2014 Location of recording: University of Roehampton Interviewer: Amy Tooth Murphy Duration(s): 01.20.53 Summariser: Alison Chand Copyright/Clearance: Key themes: Family, school, reading, childhood books, leisure, social class, American fiction, classics, US racial tension, religion. All books mentioned (those discussed for >20 seconds in bold): Greyfriars Bobby, The Story of Grace Darling, Little Grey Rabbit, Toby Twirl, Rupert Bear, The Odyssey, Christopher Robin, The Wind in the Willows, Noddy, Jane books, Just William, The Valley of Adventure, The Sea of Adventure, Nancy Drew Girl Detective, What Katy Did, What Katy Did at School, Jane Eyre, Cranford, Kidnapped, Treasure Island, Travels with my Donkey, The Lake Isle of Innisfree, Father Brown, Ulysses, Brighton Rock, Jeeves, Dancing to the Flute, The Talented Mr Ripley, The Two Faces of January, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Goldfinch, Crime and Punishment, Oedipus Rex, A View from the Bridge, The Sound and the Fury, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Executioner’s Song, 44 Scotland Street, Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, Tony Benn’s Diaries, The Sacred and Profane Love Machine, A Good Man is Hard to Find, Alias Grace, The Paying Guests, The Little Stranger, Star of the Sea, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Julius Caesar, Lord of the Flies. [01:20:53] [Session One of Two: 8 October 2014] 00.00.0 Introduction to interview, interviewee biographical details.
[Show full text]
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Honors a Distinguished Work of Fiction by an American Author, Preferably Dealing with American Life
Pulitzer Prize Winners Named after Hungarian newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, the Pulitzer Prize for fiction honors a distinguished work of fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life. Chosen from a selection of 800 titles by five letter juries since 1918, the award has become one of the most prestigious awards in America for fiction. Holdings found in the library are featured in red. 2017 The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 2016 The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen 2015 All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 2014 The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 2013: The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson 2012: No prize (no majority vote reached) 2011: A visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan 2010:Tinkers by Paul Harding 2009:Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout 2008:The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz 2007:The Road by Cormac McCarthy 2006:March by Geraldine Brooks 2005 Gilead: A Novel, by Marilynne Robinson 2004 The Known World by Edward Jones 2003 Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 2002 Empire Falls by Richard Russo 2001 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon 2000 Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri 1999 The Hours by Michael Cunningham 1998 American Pastoral by Philip Roth 1997 Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Stephan Milhauser 1996 Independence Day by Richard Ford 1995 The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields 1994 The Shipping News by E. Anne Proulx 1993 A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler 1992 A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
[Show full text]
Dickens After Dickens, Pp
CHAPTER 6 ‘The Thing and Not the Thing’: The Contemporary Dickensian Novel and Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch (2013) Rob Jacklosky, College of Mount Saint Vincent The reviews were in, and they were unanimous. Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch (2013) was Dickensian. Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times wrote, ‘In this astonishing Dickensian novel, Mrs Tartt uses her myriad talents—her tactile prose, her knowledge of her characters’ inner lives, her instinct for suspense—to immerse us in a fully imagined world’ (Kakutani C1). The New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of 2013 called the book ‘Intox- icating … like the best of Dickens, the novel is packed with incident and populated with vivid characters’ (‘10 Best’ 12). In USA Today, Kevin Nance wrote, ‘A massively entertaining, darkly funny new book that goes a long way toward explaining why its author is finally securing her place alongside the greatest American Novelists of the past half century, including … Philip Roth, Toni Morrison and that other latter-day Dickensian, John Irving’ (Nance). And finally, providing a kind of keynote for this chapter, Jessica Duffin Wolfe wrote, How to cite this book chapter: Jacklosky, R. 2020. ‘The Thing and Not the Thing’: The Contemporary Dickensian Novel and Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch (2013). In: Bell, E. (ed.), Dickens After Dickens, pp. 117–139. York: White Rose University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22599 /DickensAfterDickens.g. Licence, apart from specified exceptions: CC BY-NC 4.0 118 Dickens After Dickens Some have suggested Bleak House as a corollary, but to me, the Dickens novel that The Goldfinch most resembles is Great Expectations.
[Show full text]
CRW 6166, Section 105D, Leavitt
1 Creative Writing 6166 Spring 2015 David Leavitt Class meetings: Wednesdays, Periods E1-E3,CBD 224 Office: Turlington 4101 Office hours: By appointment E-mail: [email protected] A significant difference between literary fiction and the other arts—painting, acting, dance, music—is that its practitioners are often its critics; increasingly so, as the number of dedicated book critics diminishes. In print publications such as The New York Times Book Review, The New York Review of Books, and Bookforum, not to mention numerous online journals, fiction writers routinely review the work of their fellow fiction writers. Not only that, over the course of the last couple of centuries, many fiction writers have become as famous, if not more so, for their critical writing as for their novels and stories. In this course we will investigate the writer as critic in several different ways. First, we will read examples of critical writing by fiction writers such as E. M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, John Updike, Cynthia Ozick, Francine Prose, Lorrie Moore, Joyce Carol Oates, and recent MFA@FLA graduate Aaron Thier. Second, we will consider a couple of recent novels that have proven to be flashpoints for disagreement among critics. In the case of Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, we will compare reviews by Francine Prose, James Wood, Stephen King, and Michiko Kakutani; in the case of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle, reviews by Dwight Garner, Zadie Smith, James Wood, and William Deriesewicz. Finally, you will write reviews of your own. I will choose and order ARCs (advance reading copies) of six first novels or story collections due to be published in either May or April 2015.
[Show full text]
FUMC Books of Life – Historical Reading List 2005-2016 (And
FUMC Books of Life – Historical Reading List 2005-2016 (and growing!!) Book Author The Red Tent Anita Diamant Life of Pi Yann Martel Traveling Mercies Anne Lamott East of Eden JoHn Steinbeck Screwtape Letters C.S. Lewis Song of Solomon Toni Morrison The Five People You Meet in Heaven MitcH Albom Peace like a River Leif Enger The Secret Life of Bees Sue Monk Kidd The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum Prodigal Summer Barbara Kingsolver The Known World Edward P. Jones Angels and Demons Dan Brown The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Barbara Robinson The Four Agreements Don Miguel Ruiz Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Christopher Moore The Mermaid Chair Sue Monk Kidd Gilead Marilynne Robinson Mountains Beyond Mountains Tracy Kidder Number 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Alexander McCall SmitH Mercy of Thin Air Ronlyn Domingue Night Elie Wiesel The Problem with Murmur Lee Connie May Fowler Bee Season Myla Goldberg The All-true Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton Jane Smiley Go Tell It on the Mountain James Baldwin Jayber Crow Wendell Berry Small Wonder Barbara Kingsolver Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini Eat, Pray Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia ElizabetH Gilbert The Last American Man ElizabetH Gilbert Bagels and Grits: A Jew on the Bayou Jennifer Moses 2008 Sacred Eyes L. Robert Keck A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury Rocket Boys Homer Hickman Plain Song Kent Haruf Atonement Ian McEwan Water for Elephants Sara Gruen The Bottoms Joe. R. Lansdale To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee Moon and the Mango Tree Pamela Ewen New England White StepHen L.
[Show full text]
Recommended Reads for High Schoolers Classics
Recommended Reads for High Schoolers CLASSICS Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre.* 1847. Lexile: 890 Orphaned governess Jane falls in love with her employer, a brooding man with a terrible secret. Cather, Willa. My Ántonia.* 1918. Lexile: 990 A young man reminisces about his boyhood in Nebraska, in particular his friendship with a young girl named Ántonia, and their experiences together. Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage.* 1895. Lexile: 890 During the American Civil War, a young private named Henry Fleming flees the field of battle. Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. One Hundred Years of Solitude.* 1970. The rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo is told through the history of the Buendia family. Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.* 1962. Lexile: 1110 McMurphy, a criminal who feigns insanity, is admitted to a mental hospital where he challenges the autocratic authority of the head nurse. Morrison, Toni. Beloved. 1987. Lexile: 870 An escaped slave living in post-Civil War Ohio is haunted by memories of the farm that enslaved her, and by the ghost of her dead baby girl, whom she sacrificed. Orwell, George. 1984. 1949. Lexile: 1090 In the future, a totalitarian government watches over all citizens and directs all activities. Paton, Alan. Cry, the Beloved Country.* 1948. Lexile: 860 A novel depicting the racial ferment in the beautiful country of South Africa in 1948. Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar.* 1963. Lexile: 1140 Esther Greenwood, a talented and successful writer, finally succumbs to madness when the world around her begins to falter. Steinbeck, John. East of Eden.* 1952.
[Show full text]
Bishop Dunne English Department 2018 Summer Reading Grades 9-12
Bishop Dunne English Department 2018 Summer Reading Grades 9-12 During the summer, all students are expected to continue the habit of reading, both for enjoyment and as a supplement to their upcoming literary studies. With these goals in mind, teachers choose texts to enhance each student’s understanding of the curriculum as well as to provide a new or different reading experience. This year, incoming students will choose one text from the below list to read and annotate, using the below instructions as a guide. All students must have the annotated copy of their text as well as any notes with them on the first day of school. Students will complete an in-class assignment on that day. Please do not hesitate to contact your teacher over the summer should you have questions. Parents: Please help your student choose his or her text. It is important that you approve both the author and the book. Some of the authors below produce novels that include adult content, and it is important that you are aware of your student’s reading choice. When you and your student have made an informed selection, please encourage the student to begin reading on a regular schedule. 9TH GRADE TEXTS (Mr. McDonald, [email protected]) All Levels The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang Life of Pi by Yann Martel Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Pena 10TH GRADE TEXTS (Mrs. Milfeld, [email protected]) On-Level War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story by Emannuel Jal Uncommon by Tony Dungy The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai Pre-AP The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown *Please ensure that it is the full original version.
[Show full text]