“His cramped and claustrophobic brain”: Confinement and Freedom in John Wray’s Lowboy
This article shows that ambivalence is a major symbolic pattern in John Wray’s 2009 neuronovel Lowboy, and it affects the major aspects of the novel, including the characters’ identities and the narrative structure of the book. Ambivalence may refer either to the split personality of the schizophren...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/14639 |
| _version_ | 1797310312177729536 |
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| author | Pascale Antolin |
| author_facet | Pascale Antolin |
| author_sort | Pascale Antolin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article shows that ambivalence is a major symbolic pattern in John Wray’s 2009 neuronovel Lowboy, and it affects the major aspects of the novel, including the characters’ identities and the narrative structure of the book. Ambivalence may refer either to the split personality of the schizophrenic hero (psychoanalytic approach) or to the structure of the brain (neurologic approach). Especially, ambivalence allows subversion to prevail and transform the main protagonist’s mental confinement into textual freedom. This is shown, first, by an analysis of the referential framework and its major references, space and time. Then the major genres Lowboy borrows from are analyzed: on the one hand, the neuronovel suggests a bildungsroman, on the other, a mystery novel. While Wray borrows conventions from both, he also revisits and revises them, thus asserting the specificity of his novel and his freedom from generic conventions. Eventually, the manipulation of representation will be examined through an analysis of the language of description, particularly the use of incongruous images in the sections where Lowboy is the focal character. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:42:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3e7d2083b4614968a230fe9151a03645 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:42:07Z |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-3e7d2083b4614968a230fe9151a036452024-02-14T13:21:54ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-933614210.4000/ejas.14639“His cramped and claustrophobic brain”: Confinement and Freedom in John Wray’s LowboyPascale AntolinThis article shows that ambivalence is a major symbolic pattern in John Wray’s 2009 neuronovel Lowboy, and it affects the major aspects of the novel, including the characters’ identities and the narrative structure of the book. Ambivalence may refer either to the split personality of the schizophrenic hero (psychoanalytic approach) or to the structure of the brain (neurologic approach). Especially, ambivalence allows subversion to prevail and transform the main protagonist’s mental confinement into textual freedom. This is shown, first, by an analysis of the referential framework and its major references, space and time. Then the major genres Lowboy borrows from are analyzed: on the one hand, the neuronovel suggests a bildungsroman, on the other, a mystery novel. While Wray borrows conventions from both, he also revisits and revises them, thus asserting the specificity of his novel and his freedom from generic conventions. Eventually, the manipulation of representation will be examined through an analysis of the language of description, particularly the use of incongruous images in the sections where Lowboy is the focal character.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/14639genrebildungsromanrepresentationmystery novelneuronovelparanoid schizophrenia |
| spellingShingle | Pascale Antolin “His cramped and claustrophobic brain”: Confinement and Freedom in John Wray’s Lowboy European Journal of American Studies genre bildungsroman representation mystery novel neuronovel paranoid schizophrenia |
| title | “His cramped and claustrophobic brain”: Confinement and Freedom in John Wray’s Lowboy |
| title_full | “His cramped and claustrophobic brain”: Confinement and Freedom in John Wray’s Lowboy |
| title_fullStr | “His cramped and claustrophobic brain”: Confinement and Freedom in John Wray’s Lowboy |
| title_full_unstemmed | “His cramped and claustrophobic brain”: Confinement and Freedom in John Wray’s Lowboy |
| title_short | “His cramped and claustrophobic brain”: Confinement and Freedom in John Wray’s Lowboy |
| title_sort | his cramped and claustrophobic brain confinement and freedom in john wray s lowboy |
| topic | genre bildungsroman representation mystery novel neuronovel paranoid schizophrenia |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/14639 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pascaleantolin hiscrampedandclaustrophobicbrainconfinementandfreedominjohnwrayslowboy |