Ghostwriting and Spectrality in Robert Harris’s The Ghost
A critique of Tony Blair’s collaboration with George W. Bush in the War on Terror, Robert Harris’s The Ghost (2007) goes beyond its topical subject by exploring the connections between ghostwriting and spectrality. The unnamed protagonist of Harris’s novel is a professional ghostwriter who, after...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Casa Cărții de Știință
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Cultural Intertexts |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://b00e8ea91c.clvaw-cdnwnd.com/4fb470e8cbb34a32a0dc1701f8d7322d/200000480-5098450986/148-158%20Snyder.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797403870558683136 |
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| author | Robert Lance SNYDER |
| author_facet | Robert Lance SNYDER |
| author_sort | Robert Lance SNYDER |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A critique of Tony Blair’s collaboration with George W. Bush in the War on Terror, Robert
Harris’s The Ghost (2007) goes beyond its topical subject by exploring the connections between
ghostwriting and spectrality. The unnamed protagonist of Harris’s novel is a professional
ghostwriter who, after being commissioned to revamp former Prime Minister Adam Lang’s
memoirs, becomes enmeshed in various forms of spectrality. While isolated with his hosts in a
fortress-like compound on Martha’s Vineyard during the island’s bleak off-season, the
ghostwriter experiences the Uncanny firsthand. In the end he compiles a 160,000-word book,
not realizing that with the project’s completion he is signing his own death warrant by writing
a work about the pursuit of truth. The novel’s coda differs from that of Roman Polanski’s 2010
film adaptation, but Harris’s narrative captures the universality of literary Gothicism. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:44:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dde759a1afb944a8bd629c261ab3ba33 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2393-0624 2393-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:44:44Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Casa Cărții de Știință |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cultural Intertexts |
| spelling | doaj.art-dde759a1afb944a8bd629c261ab3ba332023-12-05T19:49:57ZengCasa Cărții de ȘtiințăCultural Intertexts2393-06242393-10782023-12-01131148158Ghostwriting and Spectrality in Robert Harris’s The Ghost Robert Lance SNYDER0 University of West Georgia, USAA critique of Tony Blair’s collaboration with George W. Bush in the War on Terror, Robert Harris’s The Ghost (2007) goes beyond its topical subject by exploring the connections between ghostwriting and spectrality. The unnamed protagonist of Harris’s novel is a professional ghostwriter who, after being commissioned to revamp former Prime Minister Adam Lang’s memoirs, becomes enmeshed in various forms of spectrality. While isolated with his hosts in a fortress-like compound on Martha’s Vineyard during the island’s bleak off-season, the ghostwriter experiences the Uncanny firsthand. In the end he compiles a 160,000-word book, not realizing that with the project’s completion he is signing his own death warrant by writing a work about the pursuit of truth. The novel’s coda differs from that of Roman Polanski’s 2010 film adaptation, but Harris’s narrative captures the universality of literary Gothicism.https://b00e8ea91c.clvaw-cdnwnd.com/4fb470e8cbb34a32a0dc1701f8d7322d/200000480-5098450986/148-158%20Snyder.pdfghostwritingspectralitygothicismredactionpalimpsest |
| spellingShingle | Robert Lance SNYDER Ghostwriting and Spectrality in Robert Harris’s The Ghost Cultural Intertexts ghostwriting spectrality gothicism redaction palimpsest |
| title | Ghostwriting and Spectrality in Robert Harris’s The Ghost |
| title_full | Ghostwriting and Spectrality in Robert Harris’s The Ghost |
| title_fullStr | Ghostwriting and Spectrality in Robert Harris’s The Ghost |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ghostwriting and Spectrality in Robert Harris’s The Ghost |
| title_short | Ghostwriting and Spectrality in Robert Harris’s The Ghost |
| title_sort | ghostwriting and spectrality in robert harris s the ghost |
| topic | ghostwriting spectrality gothicism redaction palimpsest |
| url | https://b00e8ea91c.clvaw-cdnwnd.com/4fb470e8cbb34a32a0dc1701f8d7322d/200000480-5098450986/148-158%20Snyder.pdf |
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