A.S. Byatt and the “perpetual traveller”: a reading practice for new British fiction
While most readers enjoyed, or at least admired A.S. Byatt’s Booker prize-winning novel “Possession”, many are puzzled by her work before and since. This essay argues that the problem is not the novels themselves, but rather the way that readers approach them. Conventional reading practices for expe...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universidad de La Rioja
2018-12-01
|
| Series: | Journal of English Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://publicaciones.unirioja.es/ojs/index.php/jes/article/view/3450 |
| _version_ | 1828853756470493184 |
|---|---|
| author | Nicole Flynn |
| author_facet | Nicole Flynn |
| author_sort | Nicole Flynn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While most readers enjoyed, or at least admired A.S. Byatt’s Booker prize-winning novel “Possession”, many are puzzled by her work before and since. This essay argues that the problem is not the novels themselves, but rather the way that readers approach them. Conventional reading practices for experimental or postmodern fiction do not enable the reader to understand and enjoy her dense, dizzying work. By examining the intertexts in her novella “Morpho Eugenia,” in particular two imaginary texts written by the protagonist William Adamson, this essay demonstrates how the novella generates a different kind of reading practice. Using Byatt’s metaphor, the essay recommends that readers become “perpetual travelers,” a global model of readership that will enable readers to navigate not only Byatt’s oeuvre and the realm of neo-Victorian fiction, but also the field of new British fiction and the crowded media landscape in which it resides. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T00:19:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1c0da03f34204c6980719c03af709c81 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1576-6357 1695-4300 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T00:19:43Z |
| publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
| publisher | Universidad de La Rioja |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of English Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-1c0da03f34204c6980719c03af709c812022-12-22T00:05:39ZengUniversidad de La RiojaJournal of English Studies1576-63571695-43002018-12-011609111110.18172/jes.34503022A.S. Byatt and the “perpetual traveller”: a reading practice for new British fictionNicole Flynn0South Dakota State UniversityWhile most readers enjoyed, or at least admired A.S. Byatt’s Booker prize-winning novel “Possession”, many are puzzled by her work before and since. This essay argues that the problem is not the novels themselves, but rather the way that readers approach them. Conventional reading practices for experimental or postmodern fiction do not enable the reader to understand and enjoy her dense, dizzying work. By examining the intertexts in her novella “Morpho Eugenia,” in particular two imaginary texts written by the protagonist William Adamson, this essay demonstrates how the novella generates a different kind of reading practice. Using Byatt’s metaphor, the essay recommends that readers become “perpetual travelers,” a global model of readership that will enable readers to navigate not only Byatt’s oeuvre and the realm of neo-Victorian fiction, but also the field of new British fiction and the crowded media landscape in which it resides.https://publicaciones.unirioja.es/ojs/index.php/jes/article/view/3450angels and insectshistorical fictionnovelbritish literaturehermeneuticsintertextuality |
| spellingShingle | Nicole Flynn A.S. Byatt and the “perpetual traveller”: a reading practice for new British fiction Journal of English Studies angels and insects historical fiction novel british literature hermeneutics intertextuality |
| title | A.S. Byatt and the “perpetual traveller”: a reading practice for new British fiction |
| title_full | A.S. Byatt and the “perpetual traveller”: a reading practice for new British fiction |
| title_fullStr | A.S. Byatt and the “perpetual traveller”: a reading practice for new British fiction |
| title_full_unstemmed | A.S. Byatt and the “perpetual traveller”: a reading practice for new British fiction |
| title_short | A.S. Byatt and the “perpetual traveller”: a reading practice for new British fiction |
| title_sort | a s byatt and the perpetual traveller a reading practice for new british fiction |
| topic | angels and insects historical fiction novel british literature hermeneutics intertextuality |
| url | https://publicaciones.unirioja.es/ojs/index.php/jes/article/view/3450 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nicoleflynn asbyattandtheperpetualtravellerareadingpracticefornewbritishfiction |