SLEZSKÁ UNIVERZITA V OPAVĚ Filozoficko-přírodovědecká fakulta v Opavě Alice Posoldová Obor: Angličtina + Český jazyk a literatura Affluence as a Threat in J. G. Ballard’s Post-Millennial Fiction Bakalářská práce Opava 2020 Vedoucí bakalářské práce: Mgr. Radek Glabazňa, M.A., Ph.D. Abstract This bachelor thesis deals with the theme ‘affluence as a threat‘ in selected novels by British writer James Graham Ballard. The first part of the thesis focuses on life of James Graham Ballard and his work and also introduces the theory of dystopian fiction. The aim of this thesis is the analysis of post-millennials novels Millennium and Kingdom Come. Keywords: British writer, Millennium People, Kingdom Come, dystopia, affluence, millennium Abstrakt Tato bakalářská práce se zaměří na tvorbu britského autora Jamese Grahama Ballarda vydanou po miléniu. Jedná se o díla Lidé milénia a Království tvé. První část bakalářské práce představí autorův život a jeho díla, také uvede teorii dystopické fikce. Cílem bakalářské práce je analýza tématu ‘blahobyt jako hrozba‘ ve vybraných titulech. Klíčová slova: britský autor, Lidé milénia, Království tvé, dystopie, blahobyt, milénium Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem tuto práci vypracovala samostatně. Veškeré prameny a literaturu, které jsem pro vyhotovení práce použila, řádně cituji a uvádím v seznamu použité literatury a internetových zdrojů. V Opavě dne 4. 5. 2020 ……………………………. Alice Posoldová Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to Mgr. Radek Glabazňa, M.A., Ph.D. Obsah Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 7 1 J. G. Ballard ........................................................................................................... 8 1.1 His Life ............................................................................................................... 8 1.2 His works .......................................................................................................... 12 2 Dystopian Fiction ................................................................................................. 15 3 J. G. Ballard’s Post-Millenial Fiction .................................................................. 16 3.1 Analysis of Millennium People ........................................................................ 17 3.2 Analysis of Kingdom Come ............................................................................. 27 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 36 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 37 Introduction This bachelor thesis deals with the theme ‘affluence as a threat’ in selected post-millennial dystopian novels Millennium People and Kingdom Come by British author James Graham Ballard. The first part of my thesis focuses on life of the James Graham Ballard, including his war experience which affected his life and oeuvre. It also covers his the most essential works such as autobiographical war novel Empire of the Sun or controversial novel Crash which both made it to the successful film versions. After that, I briefly introduce the theory of dystopian fiction. The last part provides characteristics of James Graham Ballard’s post-millennial fiction, with all the specific features, which is important for a better understanding of works from this period. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the theme ‘affluence as a threat’ in chosen novels Millennium People and Kingdom Come of a post-millennial triptych. This theme is followed throughout the summary of the plot of these works where selected parts are being analysed in order to learn how is this theme depicted in the books and what is its message. 7 1 J. G. Ballard 1.1 His Life James Graham Ballard was born on November 15, 1930 in Shangai, China. His mother Edna’s demanding childbirth caused that Ballard’s head was severely crooked, which led to joking about a possible connection with his stubbornness in youth.1 His sister Margaret was born seven years later and the age difference never made them best buddies.2 Ballard’s parents married in 1920 and never revealed a reason for replacing England by Shanghai and their son also never questioned them.3 Despite Shangai’s modernity and sinfulness, young Ballard was keen on the city he grew up in and later said: “Shanghai struck me as a magical place, a self-generating fantasy that left my own little mind far behind.”4 His father, who was a big fan of H. G. Wells, was convinced that new technologies can save the human race and unlike his wife, Ballard’s mother, appreciated this feature of Shanghai. There was a dark side of pre-war Shanghai when dozens of rootless Chinese laborers were approaching Shanghai and most of them even could not find a job. Shanghai has also been plagued by cholera, typhoid, and smallpox at that time and a little Ballard fell ill with amoebic dysentery and had to stay in General Hospital for a great deal of time.5 At the age of six, James attended the junior form of the boys‘ Cathedral School. Lessons were led by English teachers and included, among the others, a great amount of scripture and Latin lectures. Not only studies were tough for little boys, but also an atmosphere did not make it easier since children were often physically punished by the principal of the School, Reverend Matthews. The only reason why little James avoided his fury was the high social status of his father who worked as a vice-chairman of the British Residents Association.6 1 See James Graham Ballard, Miracles of Life, London: Fourth Estate, 2008, 3. 2 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 32. 3 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 51. 4 Ballard, Miracles of Life, 6. 5 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 6-10. 6 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 18. 8 In 1937, Japan invaded China and higher quality of preparation provided Japan most of the Chinese cities, as well as Shanghai.7 This is the reason why Ballards were forced to leave their house and move to a rented house in the French Concession.8 In 1941, by the time Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, little Ballard was sitting in his room, studying, when armylike noises distracted him. His upset father, who just heard the radio, told little James that war has just started and went on looking for Ballard’s mother. As soon as troops gained all the major locations, hundreds of British and American citizens, “who were first Allied nationals to be interned“ were detained. Fortunately, it did not concern Ballard’s father and the family was enabled to stay at home until 1943.9 In 1943, Ballards had to join the Lunghua Camp in Shanghai due to imprisonment of “British and other Allied nationals“ by Japan. The camp kept around 2 000 imprisoned people in total, 300 kids out of it. Although camp itself looked like a half-wrecked college building surrounded by mosquitos spreading malaria, where space for a living was too confined for a family, and the circumstances of joining the camp were unpleasant, little Ballard was surprised by serenity of other interned people in the camp which made it much easier. In this horror, a child’s mind savored endless playing outside, being with his schoolmates every day and meeting new people even though the living conditions were unethical. “I enjoyed my years in Lunghua, made a huge number of friends of all ages (far more than I did in adult life) and on the whole felt buoyant and optimistic, even when the food rations fell to near zero, skin infections covered my legs, malnutrition had prolapsed my rectum, and many adults had lost heart.“10 One of the biggest problems in the camp was obviously lack of food and no variety of consumed food which led to malnutrition. Repast composed of ingredients that provided only satiety, not nutrition, such as rice, plain soups, potatoes or grain did not satisfy anybody but little Ballard who always willingly ate everything due to big appetite. Since all of those ingredients were inadequate, the family made a decision to consume larvae as well. 7 See The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Second Sino-Japanese War“, 2008, https://www.britannica.com/event/Second-Sino-Japanese-War 8 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 26. 9 See Ballard, Miracles of Life, 54. 10 Ballard, Miracles of Life, 66-67. 9 In 1944 the life in Lunghua deteriorated as Japan was succumbing to the US in Pacific War and even worsened when Japan lost, which reflected on the behavior of Japanese supervisors and their barbarity against the people in the camp. Living conditions in the camp dramatically decreased by an incident with hidden radios which informed some of the interned people about the war development and resulted in the getaway of few men from the camp. “An immediate result was the sacking of the camp commandant, Hyashi. Lunghua was placed under the direct command of the Japanese military, and a harsher regime followed.”11 Despite all of the rough times regarding Lunghua, it strengthened their family bonds and all the war occasions he was a part of formed Ballard’s personality. Later on, things he was witnessing in youth, including Lunghua Camp, became a foundation for his not only war novels.12 Ballards quitted the camp in September 1945, went back to their house in Shanghai and a few months later Ballard with his mother and sister Margaret returned to England without the father who stayed in Shanghai until 1950.13 In 1946 Ballard attended a boarding school