The Spell of Sarnia: fictional representations of the island of Guernsey

Article


Goodall, Peter. 2007. "The Spell of Sarnia: fictional representations of the island of Guernsey." Shima: the international journal of research into island cultures. 1 (2), pp. 59-69.
Article Title

The Spell of Sarnia: fictional representations of the island of Guernsey

ERA Journal ID36413
Article CategoryArticle
Authors
AuthorGoodall, Peter
Journal TitleShima: the international journal of research into island cultures
Journal Citation1 (2), pp. 59-69
Number of Pages11
Year2007
Place of PublicationSydney, Australia
ISSN1834-6049
1834-6057
Web Address (URL)http://www.shimajournal.org/issues/v1n2/g.%20Goodall%20Shima%20v1n2%20.pdf
Abstract

Although there is nothing that resembles a comprehensive literary history of Guernsey, or of any of the islands of the English Channel, Guernsey has been the subject of many interesting representations in fiction. Two great novels dominate this tradition: Victor Hugo’s Toilers of the Sea (1866) and G. B. Edwards’s The Book of Ebenezer Le Page (1981), and these novels have a powerful intertextual relationship. One or two novels written in between are major works of literary art, for example Mervyn Peake’s Mr. Pye (1953), but most of the other eighty or so novels are works of popular fiction in a variety of genres and modes, especially the historical romance and the adventure story. On the whole, these novels rehearse a limited number of common themes: a romantic conception of Guernsey’s history, the physical beauty of the island coupled with a sense of the dangers of its dramatic coastline and the sea that surrounds it, and the prominence of religion in island society, in terms of both Christian sectarianism and the underground presence into modern times of paganism and witchcraft.

KeywordsGuernsey; Channel Islands; Hugo; Edwards; Peake; religion
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020470504. British and Irish literature
500405. Religion, society and culture
520504. Psychology of religion
Byline AffiliationsFaculty of Arts
Permalink -

https://research.usq.edu.au/item/9y815/the-spell-of-sarnia-fictional-representations-of-the-island-of-guernsey

Download files


Published Version
Goodall_2007_Shima.pdf
File access level: Anyone

  • 2500
    total views
  • 207
    total downloads
  • 5
    views this month
  • 3
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

The Fowler Brothers on Guernsey
Goodall, Peter. 2016. "The Fowler Brothers on Guernsey." Report and Transactions of La Societe Guernesiaise 2014. 27 (4), pp. 751-765.
Creating the French world of the Channel Islands in 'Note Viaer Lingo'
Goodall, Peter. 2017. "Creating the French world of the Channel Islands in 'Note Viaer Lingo'." Clark, Tom, Finlay, Emily and Kelly, Philippa (ed.) Worldmaking: literature, language, culture. Amsterdam, Philadelphia. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 169-178
Revealing Guernsey's ancient history in fact and fiction
Goodall, Peter. 2016. "Revealing Guernsey's ancient history in fact and fiction." Shima: the international journal of research into island cultures. 10 (2), pp. 118-128. https://doi.org/10.21463/shima.10.2.12
Writing the story of the wartime occupation of the Channel Islands
Goodall, Peter. 2013. "Writing the story of the wartime occupation of the Channel Islands." Shaw, Jan, Kelly, Philippa and Semler, L. E. (ed.) Storytelling: critical and creative approaches. London, United Kingdom. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 114-123
Human values in a mass society: a reading of George Orwell's novels
Goodall, Peter. 2012. "Human values in a mass society: a reading of George Orwell's novels." Semler, L. E., Hodge, Bob and Kelly, Philippa (ed.) What is the human? Australian voices from the humanities. Melbourne, Australia. Australian Scholarly Publishing. pp. 139-153
Writing the literary history of the Channel Islands
Goodall, Peter. 2010. "Writing the literary history of the Channel Islands." Grydehoj, Adam (ed.) 6th International Small Island Cultures Conference (ISIC6). Guernsey, United Kingdom 22 - 25 Jun 2010 Lismore, Australia.
Chaucer's Monk's Tale and Nun's Priest's Tale: an annotated bibliography 1900 to 2000 [Introduction]
Goodall, Peter. 2009. "Chaucer's Monk's Tale and Nun's Priest's Tale: an annotated bibliography 1900 to 2000 [Introduction]." Goodall, Peter (ed.) Chaucer's Monk's Tale and Nun's Priest's Tale: an annotated bibliography 1900 to 2000. Toronto, Canada. University of Toronto Press. pp. xix-xlviii
The author in the study: self-representation as reader and writer in the medieval and early modern periods
Goodall, Peter. 2006. "The author in the study: self-representation as reader and writer in the medieval and early modern periods." Bedford, Ronald, Davis, Lloyd and Kelly, Philippa (ed.) Early modern autobiography: theories, genres, practices. Ann Arbor, MI. United States. University of Michigan Press. pp. 104-114
The rock whence ye are hewn: the book of Ebenezer Le Page and Guernsey literature and history
Goodall, Peter. 2008. "The rock whence ye are hewn: the book of Ebenezer Le Page and Guernsey literature and history ." Modern Language Review. 103 (1), pp. 22-34.