From Postmodernism to Metamodernism
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FROM POSTMODERNISM TO METAMODERNISM: CHANGING PERSPECTIVES TOWARDS IRONY AND METANARRATIVES IN JULIAN BARNES’S A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 10 AND ½ CHAPTERS AND THE NOISE OF TIME A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY MELTEM ATEŞ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH LITERATURE SEPTEMBER 2019 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Yaşar Kondakçı Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Sağın Şimşek Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. Assist. Prof. Dr. Elif Öztabak Avcı Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nil Korkut Naykı (METU, FLE) Assist. Prof. Dr. Elif Öztabak Avcı (METU, FLE) Assist. Prof. Dr. Selen Aktari Sevgi (Başkent Uni., AMER) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Meltem Ateş Signature : iii ABSTRACT FROM POSTMODERNISM TO METAMODERNISM: CHANGING PERSPECTIVES TOWARDS IRONY AND METANARRATIVES IN JULIAN BARNES’S A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 10 AND ½ CHAPTERS AND THE NOISE OF TIME Ates, Meltem M.A., English Literature Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Elif Öztabak Avcı September 2019, 75 Pages The aim of this thesis is to point out and explore the changing perspectives towards irony and metanarratives in Julian Barnes’s fiction by focusing specifically on A History of the World in 10 and ½ Chapters (1989) and The Noise of Time (2016). This discussion will be located into the larger framework of Postmodernism and Metamodernism. These two aesthetic movements will be discussed in terms of their different approaches to irony and metanarratives in order to contextualize the changes in the ways in which irony and metanarratives are employed in Barnes’s fiction. Therefore, the differences and parallelisms between the ironic elements, postmodern and metamodern devices in these two novels will constitute the main discussion of the thesis. Through comparing Barnes’s one of the earliest (A History of The World in 10 and ½ Chapters) and latest works (The Noise of Time), the changing perspectives towards irony and metanarratives in Barnes’s fiction will be explored with the help of the theoretical background of Postmodernism, Post-Truth and Metamodernism. iv Keywords: Julian Barnes, postmodernism, metamodernism, post-truth, irony v ÖZ POSTMODERNİZMDEN METAMODERNİZME: JULIAN BARNES’IN A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 10 AND ½ CHAPTERS VE THE NOISE OF TIME ROMANLARINDAKİ İRONİ VE ÜST-ANLATILARA YÖNELİK DEĞİŞEN BAKIŞ AÇILARI Ateş, Meltem Yüksek Lisans, İngiliz Edebiyatı Tez Yöneticisi: Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Elif Öztabak Avcı Eylül 2019, 75 Sayfa Mevcut tezin amacı, Julian Barnes’ın kurgusal eserlerinde ironi ve üst-anlatılara yönelik değişen bakış açılarına özellikle A History of the World in 10 and ½ Chapters (1989) ve The Noise of Time (2016)’a odaklanarak dikkat çekmek ve onları incelemektir. Bu tartışma Postmodernizm ve Metamodernizm çerçeveleri içerisinden yürütülecektir. Bu iki estetik hareket, Barnes'ın kurgusunda ironi ve üst-anlatıların nasıl kullanıldığına dair değişiklikleri estetik bağlamları açısından değerlendirmemizi sağlayacaktır. Bu nedenle, bu iki romandaki ironik unsurlar, postmodern ve metamodern araçlar arasındaki farklılıklar ve paralellikler tezin ana tartışma eksenini oluşturacaktır. Barnes’ın en eski (A History of The World in 10 and ½ Chapters) ve en yeni eserlerinden birini (The Noise of Time) kıyaslayarak, Barnes'ın kurgusunda ironi ve üst-anlatılara yönelik değişen bakış açıları, Postmodernizm, Post-Truth ve Metamodernizm'in kuramsal altyapısının yardımıyla incelenecektir. vi Anahtar Kelimeler: Julian Barnes, postmodernizm, metamodernizm, post-truth, ironi vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis supervisor Assist. Prof. Dr. Elif Öztabak Avcı for her support during my M.A. journey. Her guidance helped me a lot in all my research and writing process. Even from the beginning of my undergraduate years, she had a huge impact on me to choose English Literature as my studying field, and she helped me discover my own truth by motivating and supporting me. Indeed, I am glad to have the chance to work with my idol throughout this journey. I also would like to thank the jury members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nil Korkut Naykı and Assist. Prof. Dr. Selen Aktari Sevgi for their valuable support and suggestions. I thank my family for their incredible support along the way of writing this thesis. It would not have been possible to complete it without their encouragement and care. I also feel grateful to Patricia and Richard Laurence, with whom I had delightful conversations about postmodernism, the Post-Truth Age and Shostakovich, for enlightening and supporting me. Lastly, I thank my friends and colleagues at METU, Başkent University and Michigan State University. Especially, I would like to thank my friends Fatima and Samwel who motivated me with their amazing moral support when I felt tired of studying in the library. I will always remember those cold days in Michigan with gratitude. I also would like to thank my friends Kao Yu and Özgehan for enlightening me with their creative ideas during my writing process. They helped me deconstruct my own grand narratives to become a better self and thesis writer, so I am thankful for their support. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM...........................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iv ÖZ ............................................................................................................................. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................... viii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................. x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 2. POSTMODERNISM, POST-TRUTH AND METAMODERNISM ............... 7 2.1 The Functions and Effects of Historiographic Metafiction and Irony in Postmodernism ................................................................................. 8 2.2 Through the End of Postmodernism: the Post-Truth Era and Metamodernism................................................................................... 14 3. A POSTMODERN ATTITUDE TO HISTORY: BARNES’S A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 10 AND ½ CHAPTERS............................. 24 4. A METAMODERN ATTITUDE TO HISTORY: BARNES’S THE NOISE OF TIME ......................................................................................... 45 4.1 Metamodernism as a Functional Tool in the Post-Truth Era ............ 45 4.2 Biofiction: a Thriving Genre in the Post-Truth Era ............................ 48 4.3 An Analysis of The Noise of Time as an Example of Metamodern Fiction ................................................................................................. 50 5. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 68 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................... 76 APPENDICES A. TURKISH SUMMARY / TÜRKÇE ÖZET ................................................ 84 B. TEZ İZİN FORMU / THESIS PERMISSION FORM ................................ 94 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 The Functions of Irony ................................................................................ 9 Figure 2 Truth vs. Post-Truth ................................................................................... 17 x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION “History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.” (Barnes, The Sense of an Ending 17) Starting his writing career in 1980, the British author Julian Barnes has written numerous novels, short stories and essays. The prolific author seems to like experimenting, as nearly all his fictional works are different from each other. He explains why he challenges himself: “In order to write you have to convince yourself that it’s a new departure for you and not only a new departure for you but for the entire history of the novel” (qtd. in Moseley 11). With such an attitude, he wrote numerous experimental fictional works such as Flaubert’s Parrot (1984), A History of the World in 10 and ½ Chapters (1989) and England, England (1996). When his fictional works are analyzed, it could be argued that most of his works are affected by postmodernism, as Barnes employs postmodernist techniques by using irony, self- reflexivity and intertextuality. The concepts such as history, truth and love are deconstructed in his fiction, which disrupt linearity and use marginal characters instead of major historical characters. It is not surprising that he employed