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The Network of Intertextual Relations in Naipaul's Half a Life and Magic Seeds

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The Network of Intertextual Relations in Naipaul's Half a Life and Magic Seeds UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL INSTITUTO DE LETRAS PROGRAMA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM LETRAS LITERATURAS DE LÌNGUA INGLESA The Network of Intertextual Relations in Naipaul's Half a Life and Magic Seeds Dissertação submetida à Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Letras na ênfase Literaturas de Língua Inglesa Mestranda: Profa. Larissa Rohde Orientadora: Profa. Dra. Sandra Sirangelo Maggio Porto Alegre Dezembro, 2005 FICHA CATALOGRÁFICA ROHDE, Larissa The Network of Intertextual Relations in Naipaul's Half a Life and Magic Seeds Larissa Rohde Porto Alegre: UFRGS, Instituto de Letras, 2005. 245 p. Dissertação (Mestrado – Programa de Pós-graduação em Letras) Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. 1. Literatura de língua inglesa. 2. Crítica literária. 3. V. S. Naipaul. 4. Half a Life 5. Magic Seeds 6. Intertextualidade Agradecimentos: CAPES, pela concessão de auxílio financeiro. Profª Sandra Maggio, pelo otimismo, generosidade e atenção. Membros da banca examinadora, pelo interesse na leitura do trabalho. Régis Pizzato, pela formatação eletrônica. Agradeço também aos professores e colegas que, direta ou indiretamente, colaboraram para a realização desta pesquisa. RESUMO Esta dissertação mapeia a rede de relações intertextuais em Half a Life (2001) e sua continuação Magic Seeds (2004), os romances mais recentes do Prêmio Nobel de Literatura de 2001, V. S. Naipaul, como contribuição para o estudo da obra do autor. A noção de intertextualidade permeia os estudos literários, e o termo tem sido largamente empregado desde que foi cunhado por Julia Kristeva nos anos sessenta. Desde então as mais variadas, e muitas vezes divergentes, teorias sobre intertextualidade compartilham a idéia de que um texto só adquire significado pleno na interação com outros textos. A abordagem metodológica proposta é baseada na teoria da transtextualidade de Gérard Genette. Esta escolha implica o estudo de intertextos, paratextos, metatextos, arquitextos e hipertextos que constituem a interface entre os dois romances e outros escritos. O nome do protagonista "William Somerset Chandran" constitui o fio que guia o estudo das várias relações transtextuais nos dois romances. A partir do prenome do protagonista – William – este estudo situa os romances no contexto da tradição do Bildungsroman , e argumenta que estes estabelecem uma paródia arquitextual do gênero na medida em que subvertem seu cerne, ou seja, a formação do caráter do protagonista. O nome do meio do protagonista – Somerset – remete à ficcionalização do escritor Somerset Maugham na narrativa, ao mesmo tempo em que esta desmistifica a ótica ocidental sobre o hinduísmo popularizada por Maugham em The Razor's Edge . O sobrenome do protagonista – Chandran – leva ao estudo do conjunto de referências à origem indiana de Naipaul e o papel desta na produção do autor. Este nome se reporta ao romance de Narayan The Bachelor of Arts , cujo protagonista também é nomeado Chandran. Narayan é um escritor de destaque na literatura anglo-indiana e referência recorrente na obra de Naipaul. Os temas de migração e choque cultural apresentados nos dois romances têm sido presença constante na obra de Naipaul. Esta pesquisa mapeia a relação de continuidade entre os dois romances em questão e o conjunto da obra de Naipaul, salientando o papel da ambientação geográfica da narrativa, marcada pela jornada do protagonista através de três continentes. A teoria da transtextualidade é uma ferramenta operacional para a pesquisa, a qual examina a densidade das referências geográficas, históricas e literárias em Half a Life e Magic Seeds , visando aportar elementos para o estudo da produção literária de Naipaul, na medida em que estes romances recentes condensam e revisitam a visão de mundo deste autor. Palavras-chave: Naipaul – Half a Life – Magic Seeds – intertextualidade ABSTRACT This thesis traces the network of intertextual relations in the two latest novels by the 2001 Nobel Prize winner V. S. Naipaul: Half a Life (2001) and its sequel Magic Seeds (2004) as a means of contribution to the study of the author's work. The notion of intertextuality is a pervasive one within literary studies, the word itself started to be widely used in the sixties, following the definition of Julia Kristeva. Nuanced and even conflicting as the varied theories of intertextuality may be, they all share the idea that a text is not isolated or self-sufficient, but acquires full meaning in the interplay with other texts. A methodological approach based on Gerard Genette's theory of transtextuality is proposed for the analysis. This choice implies the study of intertexts, paratexts, metatexts, architexts and hypertexts that constitute the interface between the two novels at hand and other texts. The protagonist's name "William Somerset Chandran" sets the thread of several transtextual instances pervading the two novels. Taking the cue of the protagonist's first name – William – this thesis places the novels within the context of the Bildungsroman tradition and argues that these novels establish an architextual parody of this genre, subverting its core meaning of character formation. The protagonist's middle name – Somerset – leads to the discussion of the way the writer Somerset Maugham is fictionalized in the narrative and how it undermines the metropolitan ethos towards Hinduism as exposed in Maugham's novel The Razor's Edge . The protagonist's last name – Chandran – spawns a set of references to Naipaul's Indian ancestry and the role it plays in his fictional and non-fictional production; this name alludes to Narayan's novel The Bachelor of Arts , whose main character is also called Chandran. Narayan is a leading figure in Anglo-Indian Literature and a recurrent reference in Naipaul's writings. The themes of displacement and culture clash tackled by these novels have haunted the author throughout his career. The research maps out the two novels' relationship with the realm of Naipaul's previous writings; as well as brings to the fore the role of setting in the narratives, marked by the protagonist's dislocations in three continents. The theory of transtextuality provides the operational tool for the research, which examines the density of geographical, historical and literary references in Half a Life and Magic Seeds with the purpose of shedding light into Naipaul's literary production, inasmuch as these two recent novels condense and revisit the author's worldview. Key words: Naipaul – Half a Life – Magic Seeds – intertextuality TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................08 1 CONTEXTUALIZATION ...................................................................................20 1.1 Overview of Naipaul’s Writings..................................................................... 20 1.2 Narration in Half a Life and Magic Seeds ........................................................27 1.3 Half a Life: Commentated Summary.............................................................. 30 1.4 Magic Seeds: Commentated Summary............................................................37 2 A CRITICAL SURVEY .......................................................................................42 2.1 Naipaul’s Split Critical Reception ...................................................................42 2.2 The Concept of Intertextuality.........................................................................46 2.2.1 Genette’s Theory of Transtextuality.......................................................53 2.3 The Concept of Parody ....................................................................................58 2.4 The Concept of Bildungsroman.......................................................................64 3 THE NAME THREADS ......................................................................................74 3.1 Willie – The Bildungsroman Tradition............................................................77 3.2 Somerset – The British Tradition.....................................................................93 3.3 Chandran – The Anglo-Indian Novel Tradition...............................................104 4 INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES TO NAIPAUL’S PREVIOUS WORKS .113 4.1 Parallel: The Mimic Men, Half a Life and Magic Seeds ..................................113 4.2 On Books and Writing .....................................................................................122 4.3 Modernity and Colonial Societies....................................................................124 5 INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES IN HS AND MS .......................................128 5.1 Geographical References: The Role of Setting................................................128 5.2 Literary References..........................................................................................133 5.2.1 Writers ....................................................................................................133 5.2.2 Novels.....................................................................................................137 5.2.3 Characters ...............................................................................................141 5.3 Historical References.......................................................................................142 5.3.1 Events......................................................................................................143 5.3.2 People......................................................................................................146
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