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A Study of the Dynamic Picaresque Novel UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2008 Wayward fictions: A study of the dynamic picaresque novel Tina Ogorek University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Ogorek, Tina, "Wayward fictions: A study of the dynamic picaresque novel" (2008). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 2864. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/zoff-l51p This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WAYWARD FICTIONS: A STUDY OF THE DYNAMIC PICARESQUE NOVEL by Tina Ogorek Zwischenpriifung Lehramt Englisch, Spanisch (L 4) (Intermediate Exam English, Spanish Teacher) Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin 1996 Erste (Wissenschaftliche) Staatspriifung fur das Amt des Studienrats [First (Scientific) Qualifying Examination, State of Berlin] Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Landesamt fur Lehramtspriifungen Berlin 2000 Zweite Staatspriifung fiir das Amt des Studienrats (Second Licensing Examination, State of Berlin) Priifungsamt fiir Lehramtspriifungen Berlin 2004 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in English Department of English College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 2008 UMI N um ber: 3383 9 8 8 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3383988 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQ uest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Tina Ogorek Student 2008 All Rights Reserved Dissertation Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 9 ■ 20 08 The Dissertation prepared by Tina Ogorek Entitled Wayward Fictions: A Study of the Dynamic Picaresque Novel is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English___________________________ % Examination Committee Chair Dean of the Graduate College Examination,Committea Member Examination Committee Member <eZ Graduate College Faculty Representative 11 ABSTRACT W a y w a r d F ic t io n s a S t u d y o f t h e D y n a m ic P ic a r e s q u e N o v e l by Tina Ogorek Dr. Timothy Erwin, Examination Committee Chair Professor of English University of Nevada, Las Vegas The picaresque has been considered a narrow and historically closed genre, limited to a few examples, as well as a wide and flexible genre inclusive of any number of narratives. As an alternative, I propose that it should be seen as a dynamic form, conserving certain historic characteristics, but also adapting to newly current, mostly social, concerns by reconfiguring form and content. Through its double structure it incorporates inconsistencies and controversies, remaining culturally relevant. In the following chapters I have redefined the picaresque elements of two well-known British picaresque novels, added another picaresque novel to the canon, and qualified two others, taking siglo-de-oro Spain for my point of departure. In my final chapter I argue for the continuing relevance of the genre by showing how it reappears in postmodern Germany through Thomas Brussig’s Heroes Like Us. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, John le Brun by Richard Cross, and Roderick Random by Tobias Smollett are picaresque on the dynamic view, their picaresque characteristics being modified to express period thought. These works conserve the 111 historic ambivalent form and the duality of content. While all three novels attempt to resolve status inconsistency, their solutions are variously flawed. In each of them one aspect gives especially interesting insight into cultural developments: in Moll Flanders the relation of signified to signifier, in John le Brun the development towards a class society, and in Roderick Random a change in narrative concepts, all illustrate epistemic shifts. Meanwhile, not all picaresque novels are so rewarding to the critic because some, like the anonymous Frank Hammond, employ picaresque features without adapting them to contemporary conventions and circumstances. Other novels such as Edward Kimber’s Joe Thompson follow the picaresque format only in part, either as generic hybrids or lacking cultural import consistent with the picaresque novel. The picaresque novel reconfigures various social and cultural discourses with traditional as well as emergent elements. As a sub-genre, the picaresque shares elements with the novel, and it is precisely in the adaptation of generic features that it may be understood as a hitherto undervalued stepping stone in the development of the modem novel. IV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to thank my doctoral adviser, Dr. Timothy Erwin, for his time, effort, enthusiasm, and helpful suggestions throughout my doctoral work. He was incredibly patient and encouraging. I am especially grateful to him for introducing me to the American academe. I would also like to thank the other committee members; Dr. Megan Becker-Leckrone for arousing an interest in theory which will remain with me; Dr. Leon Cobum for allowing me to spend more time on the thesis by giving me employment on his ice-cream tmck; Dr. Ralph Buechler for resolving inter-cultural puzzles. I am also indebted to those faculty of UNLV who taught me thorough research and who allowed me much leeway during the program, above all Dr. Charles C. Whitney and Dr. Joseph B. McCullough. Thanks, too, must be extended to the staff at UNLV, without whom the pitfalls of (intemational) paperwork would have been next to insuperable. Finally, let me also thank editors Craig Dionne and Steve Mentz for inviting me to contribute a part of my first chapter to their collection of essays by various hands. Rogues and Earlv Modem English Culture (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004), published as “The Ambivalent Rogue: Moll Flanders as ModemP icaraf 337-60. All thanks must begin and end, however, with my family. My parents taught me to study and to persevere and supported me unfalteringly in my endeavors all those years. I must likewise thank my sister and my parents-in-law for their great understanding and for watching my children. Finally, thank you. Dieter, for understanding my ambition and helping me to make my dream come tme. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................................................... v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: THE DYNAMIC GENRE OF THE PICARESQUE NOVEL...............................................................................1 Modem Critical Views of the Picaresque Novel................................................................ 14 The Picaresque Genre.............................................................................................................35 CHAPTER 2 MOLL FLANDERS AS MODERN PICARA........................................44 Picaresque Elements in the Modem Novel..........................................................................48 Picaresque Elements and the Modem Economy.................................................................55 The Picara's Ambivalent Position...................................................................................... 60 Double Discourse as Social Critique ....................................................................................64 The Picaresque Between Epistemes......................................................................................67 Two Discourses: Narrative ....................................................................................................68 Two Discourses: Language................................................................... 76 Two Discourses: Social Concepts.........................................................................................83 Ambiguous Content in the Ambivalent Form of the Picaresque Novel..........................94 CHAPTER 3 JOHN LE BRUN, THE PICARESQUE LIBERITNE ..............97 The Picaresque Double Stmcture ........................................................................................ 102 Other Picaresque Features of John le Bmn........................................................................108 Modified to Criticize............................................................................................................
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