Elizabeth Bowen and the pleasure of the text
Edited book (chapter)
Chapter Title | Elizabeth Bowen and the pleasure of the text |
---|---|
Book Chapter Category | Edited book (chapter) |
ERA Publisher ID | 1755 |
Book Title | Elizabeth Bowen: theory, thought and things |
Authors | |
Author | Gildersleeve, Jessica |
Editors | Gildersleeve, Jessica and Smith, Patricia Juliana |
Page Range | 48-61 |
Chapter Number | 3 |
Number of Pages | 14 |
Year | 2019 |
Publisher | Edinburgh University Press |
Place of Publication | Edinburgh |
ISBN | 9781474458641 |
9781474458672 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474458641.003.0004 |
Web Address (URL) | https://edinburgh.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474458641.001.0001/upso-9781474458641-chapter-004 |
Abstract | This chapter recognises that while several authors in the extant criticism have used various lenses of critical theory through which to analyse Bowen’s work, a case for Bowen as a theorist herself has not yet been made. Through an analysis of Bowen’s critical essays, reviews, and depictions of reading and writing in her fiction, this chapter proposes a logic of literary theory as it emerges in her work. Bowen’s theory of reading does anticipate, in some ways, poststructuralist theory as it appears in the work of Roland Barthes, particularly in terms of her syntactical evocations of trauma. Where her work differs (or defers) from theirs, however, is in her insistence upon a kind of mindless and spontaneous memory-work which describes the impact of the reader and the text upon each other and the production of pleasure engendered through this relationship. It is in the process of this mutual engagement, Bowen’s work suggests, that each comes into being. This essay will thus argue for the innovation present in Bowen’s understanding of reading and writing as an anticipation and an inflection of later poststructuralist theory. |
Keywords | Elizabeth Bowen |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 470504. British and Irish literature |
470514. Literary theory | |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | School of Arts and Communication |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q59zq/elizabeth-bowen-and-the-pleasure-of-the-text
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