THE RECONSTRUCTION OF AUTHORIAL IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY AUTHOR FICTIONS: A.S BYATT’S POSSESSION, DAVID LODGE’S AUTHOR, AUTHOR AND MAGGIE GEE’S VIRGINIA WOOLF IN MANHATTAN A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY NESRİN KOÇ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE AUGUST 2021 Approval of the thesis: THE RECONSTRUCTION OF AUTHORIAL IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY AUTHOR FICTIONS: A.S BYATT’S POSSESSION, DAVID LODGE’S AUTHOR, AUTHOR AND MAGGIE GEE’S VIRGINIA WOOLF IN MANHATTAN submitted by NESRİN KOÇ in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Literature, the Graduate School of Social Sciences of Middle East Technical University by, Prof. Dr. Yaşar KONDAKÇI Dean Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Çiğdem SAĞIN ŞİMŞEK Head of Department Department of Foreign Language Education Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elif ÖZTABAK AVCI Supervisor Department of Foreign Language Education Examining Committee Members: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hülya YILDIZ BAĞÇE (Head of the Examining Committee) Middle East Technical University Department of Foreign Language Education Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elif ÖZTABAK AVCI (Supervisor) Middle East Technical University Department of Foreign Language Education Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nil KORKUT NAYKI Middle East Technical University Department of Foreign Language Education Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa KIRCA Çankaya University Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies Assist. Prof. Dr. Selen AKTARİ SEVGİ Başkent University Department of American Culture and Literature 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: Nesrin KOÇ Signature: iii ABSTRACT THE RECONSTRUCTION OF AUTHORIAL IDENTITY IN CONTEMPORARY AUTHOR FICTIONS: A.S BYATT’S POSSESSION, DAVID LODGE’S AUTHOR, AUTHOR AND MAGGIE GEE’S VIRGINIA WOOLF IN MANHATTAN KOÇ, Nesrin Ph.D., The Department of English Literature Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elif ÖZTABAK AVCI August 2021, 272 pages This study analyses Possession (1990) by A.S Byatt, Author, Author (2004) by David Lodge and Virginia Woolf in Manhattan (2014) by Maggie Gee as examples of contemporary author fictions. By revisiting historical authors such as Victorian poets, Henry James and Virginia Woolf and juxtaposing these authors with contemporary author figures, these novels present a multi-layered discussion of authorship practices across centuries. The three novels analysed here all deal with the anxiety governing the work of the contemporary author: Is the Author dead? A.S Byatt challenges the death of the author through her Neo-Victorian tropes while David Lodge claims the authorial power as he negotiates the anxiety of influence he has over Henry James. Gee, on the other hand, establishes authorial power through imagining her heroine in a completely different setting as opposed to the historical reality. Due to the fact that these three authors are also novelists-critics, their author fictions also address the ambivalence caused by this double consciousness. Byatt, Lodge and Gee celebrate the author as a creator, an intellectual, a critic and a writer. Adopting a post-postmodern and reconstructive methodology, this study asserts that iv in contemporary author fictions, the authorial identity is brought back to the textual world. Keywords: author, author-fiction, A.S Byatt, David Lodge, Maggie Gee v ÖZ A.S BYATT’IN SAHİPLER, DAVİD LODGE’UN YAZAR, YAZAR VE MAGGİE GEE’NİN VİRGİNİA WOOLF MANHATTAN’DA ADLI YAZAR ROMANLARINDA YAZAR KİMLİĞİNİN YENİDEN KURGULANMASI KOÇ, Nesrin Doktora, İngiliz Edebiyatı Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Elif ÖZTABAK AVCI Ağustos 2021, 272 sayfa Bu çalışma, A.S Byatt’ın Sahipler (1990), David Lodge’un Yazar, Yazar (2004) ve Maggie Gee’in Virginia Woolf Manhattan’da (2014) adlı eserlerini çağdaş yazar romanı türünün örnekleri olarak incelemektedir. Viktorya dönemi şairleri ile Henry James ve Virginia Woolf gibi modernist yazarların yeniden ele alındığı ve çağdaş yazar figürleri ile bir araya getirildiği bu romanlar, bu özellikleriyle, okuyucuya, yazarlık kavramı ve pratiklerinin yüzyıllar boyunca gelişimi ve değişimini gösteren çok katmanlı bir tartışma sunarlar. Bu teze konu olan her üç romanda da çağdaş yazarların eserlerinde karşımıza çıkan endişeye rastlanmaktadır: Yazar ölmüş müdür? A.S Byatt yazarın ölümünü, kullandığı Neo-Viktoryen perspektif ile eleştirirken, David Lodge, Henry James’e karşı duyduğu “etkilenme endişesini” James’i kurgusal bir kahraman olarak sunarak aşabilir ve metin üzerinde otoritesini sağlayabilir. Maggie Gee ise romanının kahramanını tarihsel gerçekliğinden çok farklı bir mekân ve zamanda hayal ederek kendisini metin üzerindeki tek otorite ilan eder. Bu üç yazar, aynı zamanda akademisyen ve eleştirmen olmaları sebebiyle, yazar romanlarında bu çift bilince sahip olmanın vi yarattığı belirsizliği de irdelemektedirler. Byatt, Lodge ve Gee; yazarı, yaratıcı, entellektüel, eleştirmen ve nihayet yazan kişi olarak yüceltirler. Post-postmodern ve yeniden yapılandırmacı bir yaklaşım benimseyen bu çalışma, çağdaş yazar romanlarında, yazarın kimliği ile birlikte metnin dünyasına geri getirildiğini öne sürmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Yazar, yazar romanı, A.S Byatt, David Lodge, Maggie Gee vii To myself, whom I have neglected most, during this study viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My experience of motherhood, relatively at a young age, has taught me that it takes a village a raise a child, as the famous saying goes. The same is definitely valid for a dissertation. It takes a community of supporters to survive as a Ph.D. student. Having survived this thorny path, I now rejoice in having reached this stage and take the opportunity to thank the institutions and all the wonderful people who supported me along this journey. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elif Öztabak Avcı for her invaluable guidance, patience and kindness, both in supervising this study, and throughout my M.A. and Ph.D. studies at METU. Her enthusiasm for the novel genre and narratology inspired me to inquire the author’s position in contemporary author fictions. Without her genuine interest in my study and constant encouragement, this study would not have been completed. I will always be indebted to her, both for her advice and guidance. I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to my dissertation committee members, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hülya Yıldız Bağçe and Assist. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kırca for their insightful reviews and thought-provoking comments and suggestions, which greatly enriched this study over the years. I also sincerely thank the examining committee members of my dissertation, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nil Korkut Naykı and Assist. Prof. Dr. Selen Aktari Sevgi for their invaluable contributions to finalization of this study. I would also like to express my special thanks and gratitude to the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for their financial support under the programme of TÜBİTAK BİDEB 2211-A - National Scholarship Programme for Ph.D. Students. I extend my special thanks to my friends Yağmur Sönmez Demir, Mahinur Gözde Kasurka, Gülten Silindir Keretli and Deniz Kırpıklı for always being there for me. I have often bored Gülten with my complaints. With Yağmur and Gözde, we first paddled through the stressful days of the Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam, followed ix by proposal meetings. Even though we complained about exhaustion every single day; eventually, we did an excellent job of keeping each other motivated in our small community. Especially Yağmur’s presence as my senior, guided and comforted me through every stage of this dissertation. Thanks a lot for your solidarity, patience and kindness. You have been the best sister I could have. Every Ph.D. student faces the ubiquitous question of “When will you finish writing your dissertation?”. I guess, I owe a debt of gratitude to all those people, who by constantly positing it, compelled me to finish it. My colleagues from my previous workplace, Pınar Atabey, T. Güzin Sargın, Umut G. Demir and Havva Zünbül, you deserve a thank you in that respect. I would also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to them for putting up with the Ph.D. comics I kept sharing over the years. I also thank Sinem Orallı and Nurulhude Baykal, the Bilkenters, for their unwearing support and encouragement. Thank you for being the shoulders to rest on. It has definitely been a blessing to remain friends over all those years. Pınar Çelik, Duygu Küçükaydın, Berna Yıldırım Artaç and Erman Yanık, thanks for sharing the agonies of dissertation writing. Even though we have been writing dissertations in different disciplines, your company and friendship inspired and motivated me greatly. Dearest thanks to my parents Nefize and Halim Mutlu and my brother Cüneyt Mutlu, who have always been there for me. Thank you for making me who I am today. My parents-in-law Nermin and Halil Koç and my brother and sister-in- law, Cem and Betül Koç, thanks a lot for your support. Special thanks to my husband A.Cumhur Koç, whose presence has smoothed this thorny path for me. I have been writing a thesis, first M.A. and then Ph.D., throughout the ten years of our marriage. Even though he is the most organized