1 1. Introduction the Present Thesis Will Analyse Ian Mcewan's Late Novel Enduring Love in Light of the Theories of Postmodern

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1 1. Introduction the Present Thesis Will Analyse Ian Mcewan's Late Novel Enduring Love in Light of the Theories of Postmodern 1. Introduction The presentthesiswillanalyse IanMcEwan’slatenovel Enduring Love inlightofthe theoriesof postmodernism.Theaimistoreveal postmodernityasthesubjectmatterofthe givennovel. Enduring Love ’sinherentdebateoverthe changeoftheapproachtosciencein aftermathofthedemiseofthe proEnlightenmentmodernitywill be identified.Themain protagonist’stendencytosupposean“objective”truth,his relentless endeavouringof rationalizingtherealityandprovidingaunifiedaccountofit,will bedescribed,alongwiththe relatedpostmodernist interestindeconstructingnotionsoftruthandrationality.Thethesis supposesthecentralcharacter’s likingfora“universal” judgement,histendencyto“totalize.” Besides,the notionsofsubjectivity,the“self”,andknowledge’srelationtopowerwill be touchedupon.The postmodernist ideaof Enduring Love isthatnokindofknowledgehasa privilegedaccesstorealityanditsexplanation.Thatis tosay,postmodernism’scentralvalues aremultiplicityanddifference.Thereforetheethicalsubsoilof postmodernitytakesinto account the needfortoleranceofheterogeneity.The present paperwillconsider the main protagonist JoeRose’sapproachtothis postmodern“obligation.”Doeshevaluediversity entirely?Rose’streatmentofthe“other”(characters)will be outlined.Postmodernism’s distrustofthemodernity’s projectof rationalitybecomestheleitmotifof Enduring Love . Thethesiswillattendtothe“schizophrenia” of Enduring Love ’snarration.Thenarrating charaterRosewill be consideredambivalent,hence“unreliable.”Theaimistosuggest inconsistenciesinRose’sthinkingandtheconsequentsubversioninthenarration.The narrator’s purposefultellinginretrospect bearsimportance.Thesimultaneous prominenceof contradictorydiscourses pervades Enduring Love .Nevertheless,thedisunityofRose’strain ofthoughtthroughoutthetext initiatesthecharacter’sethicalconfusion.Thatis tosay,with thecomingof postmodernity,theformerideaof moralityisaltered.Rose’smindisusedto thecomfortsofthe“totalities”ofmodernism,inwhichthesuppositionofobjectivityfreed 1 individuals ofethical responsibility.However,heisnot releasedfromthefeelingofguilthe experiences withmerescientificexplanation.Inotherwords,thefinal planofthe present paperis toconsider Enduring Love ’snostalgiaforthe tragicoutlook. 2 2. Ian McEwan’s Late Fiction Theimmediatesubjectmatterof Enduring Love ,thesubjectofthe presentthesis,butalso otherMcEwan’slatenovels, Amsterdam , Atonement and Saturday ,is postmodernity.The issuesofthelifeinthe postmodernageandsocietyarewhatthesenovels areclearly concernedabout.ThesettingsofMcEwan’srecentnovels carrypostmodernfeaturesandthe writer’sdescriptionsoftenevokeknowledgeabilityofthetheoretical accountsof postmodernism(e.g.implicitcommentson“hyperreality”in Saturday ).IanMcEwanisare- creatorofthe postmodernistexperienceinfiction.Moreover,McEwan’s ownnarrativevoice isaffectedbythedilemmasof postmodernity.Theauthorhimselfisinterpretableasatruly postmoderncharacter,whooscillates betweena“returntorealism”andthemetafictional postmodernistwriting; a ratherschizophrenicfigure,indeed.Notableisthehybridityof McEwan’sfiction,itssimultaneous useofliteraryrealismandinclusionofthe postmodern era’s issuesintermsofhisnovels’ content.ItcanalsobeclaimedthatMcEwanpackshis nostalgiafor modernism inaclearlypostmodernistwrapping. Theauthor’slatenovelsconstituteanew phaseinhisoeuvre.McEwanabandonsthe classicrelishingofhis“trademark” shockingsubjectmatter –the pathologiesofmodernlife. Nerve-rackingscenesand“tragicclashes”donotcompletelyvanishfrom hisfiction;yet,they arecreditedlessdetailedattentionintheframeworkofanyof thelatenovels.Therather favorabledescriptionofthefamilyin Saturday positivelycontrasts The Cement Garden ’s portraitofa disintegratingfamily.Theshockingsubjectmatteris practicallytransformed, recycled,nolonger playingthecentralrole; theneedto“disgust”thereadernolonger permeatesMcEwan’s writing.Nevertheless,vexingmoralquestions becomeleitmotifsofall mentionedlatenovelsallthesame,eventhoughMcEwanis notsympathetic tothe tragic outlook.McEwanisstillonefootinmodernistconvictions,butismovingawayfromthemat thesametime.The balloonaccidentin Enduring Love ,forexample,doesnot“mean” 3 anythingbutadeepeningnuisance,intheend.Inthis,McEwanaffirms postmodernity,as theoriesof postmodernismallowfor Nietzscheannotionofthedeathoftragedy.Yet,Joein Enduring Love cannot stopthinkingabouthismoral“failure”–lettinggoofthe balloon’s rope.Themaincharacterofthenovelisdrivenbyadubious senseofguilt.Ethical considerationsquietlycentre thenovel’s trainofthought.Thecharacters’ behavior becomes unjudgeableinpostmodernity;theethical confusionarises. Enduring Love issetinthe post- humanist,post-masculineworld,but stillechoestheideasofhumanismandsuperiorityof masculinity.Thenovelisacontemplationofthe conceptof paranoia(wellaccommodatedin the postmodernistliterarywriting).The protagonistsofthe postmodernist novelssometimes suspect that theyaretrappedatthecentreofintrigue,oftenwithjustification. Enduring Love ’s JoeRoseis hauntedbythe possessedcharacter ofJedParryandhishomoeroticobsession. However,Rose’s“paranoia”isresolvedinthe endofthenovelas justified,inwhichthe validityofrationalityis established.Besides,the principleof paranoiafeaturesalsothe narrationof thenovel.McEwanhintshisnarratingcharacter’sunreliability,onlytodenyitin theend.The metafictionalimpulseiswell presentin Enduring Love ,whosenarrator frequentlycommentsonthewritingprocess. ThecritiqueofEnlightenmentuniversals iscentraltothethinkingofthe philosophersof the post-modernperiod. Enduring Love happens toscrutinize itsmainprotagonist’srationalist thinking.Thenovelisa contemplationofthemodernity’sstrategyofunityagainstthe postmodernity’sstrategyof plurality. Enduring Lov ereveals McEwan’snew preoccupation: thefascinationwiththe scientificthoughtandtherelatedrationality.The novelinvestigates thescientificmindofits mainprotagonistJoeRose,and,at thesametime,McEwan juxtaposesdifferentwaysofthinkinginindividualcharactersthatareintroduced. Interestingly,themainintellectualantipoleofthe rationalmainprotagonistRoseisa female protagonist.Asa matter offact,Clarissahasaffinitieswithliterature; she isascholar on 4 Keats.McEwanputsemphasisonthefactofexistenceofdiverseworlds –andtherelated pluralityof acceptable ethics that shouldbetakenintoconsideration.Oneofthe basic questions McEwanpositsin Enduring Love is–whatifthe“other”,whomIdonotwantto oppressinanywayandwhomIam readytoconsideranequal,despitehisorherdifference, refusestoplaythegameoftheacceptabilityofvarietyandtriestoclaimhisorher superiority? The peacefulmindofthetolerantmanisthreatened,inthat case.Roseisalmost vividlyunabletocopewithJedParry’sauthoritarianpersuasion.Hisrootedsuppositionof solidaritymakeshimunabletoefficientlycontradict,faceand“fight”the psychoticintruder. Whathedoes,atfirst,is accept theneurotic’s rulesofthegame,inwhichhisimpulseto tolerance is noticeable.However,Rose’stolerant postmodernselfisaccompaniedbya “modern”andoppressivealterego,whichoverwhelms Rose’sconsciousness. Inhislatefiction,McEwancomestoquestionthe purposeandvalue ofliterature.The suggestiongoesthatwritingfictionisanunnecessaryandfrivolousoccupation.Theauthor provideshis novelswithcriticismofliterature,however paradoxical this mightseem. McEwannevercompletelydiminisheshisownart,though;a certaintoleranceis always admitted.Thelatentcondemnationof themoralvalidityofliterarywritingisneverfully completed.Inthis pervadingpolemic,theauthor’smoralambiguitytakes place.McEwan’s hesitationmirrorsinthe charactersofhisnovels.Perownein Saturday resentsliterature,butit isaVictorianpoem,intheend,whichpracticallysaveshisfamily’sfurtherassault.In Atonement ,theliterarycreativity’sdestructive impulseisoutlined,asitsmaincharacter’s compulsiontonarrate becomesthesourceofacrime; butisshetobe blamed?In Enduring Love ,Rose,eventhoughhesucceedsinmakingsenseofJedParry’s extraordinarybehavior bymeansofclassifyingitasa pathological condition,“deClerambault’ssyndrome”,isleft withhis partner’s incomprehension.Ambivalenceismaintainedandthe postmodernismofthe texts confirmed.“McEwan’sfictionmight be bettercharacterizedintermsofitsstruggleto 5 articulate the possibilityofanarrativevoice that isself-consciousinits refusaloffull coherenceorcontrolandunableorunwillingtodisguise theextentofitsowninstabilityand unease” (Morrison).TheideaofthetragicechoesinallMcEwan’slatenovels.Thecharacters arenolongercapableof beingtragic heroes,but sensethe potentialinthemselves,all the same.Thetroubleis thatthetimestheylive indonotallowfortrulytragicfeelings. In Atonement ,Briony“recycles”herfamily’stragedyinwriting.Thenarratorutilizes the feelingofguilt asaframeworkfor“hernovel.” Atonement can bedescribedasanostalgic recollectionoftheethicsofhumanism.WhatisimplicitlymournedbyMcEwanhereis the postmodernist preferenceforaestheticsover ethics(i.e.Briony’srelentlessaestheticizationof experienceasa postmodernimpulse). Atonement attemptsa“re-memory”,re-writingof history. 1The leitmotifinBriony’scharacterizationistheurgetorationalizethedisordered (whichisnotdissimilartotherationalthoughtof Perownein Saturday or, moreimportantly forthe present paper,Rosein Enduring Love ).Thecharacter’s psyche is fragmentedinthe aftermathoftherealizationofguilt.Briony’s“orderlyspirit” makesherconstantlyre-invent theself-evidentworldby meansimposingorderuponit.The metafictionalcommenthereis thatanauthoristheauthority,thecontrollerof atext.Yet,Briony’slongingfordefiniteness, herwantfordramatization,isshownasharmful.JoeRosein Enduring Love hasthesame compulsionasBriony,andhisisalso,inasense,understandableasharmful(e.g.tothe relationship betweenRoseandhis partnerClarissa). Enduring
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