Tsareva E. V.

The Issue of Authorial Manifestations in J. Barnes’s Novel “Flaubert’s Parrot” P. 137-144.

UDC 821.111-31.09«19»

DOI 10.37724/RSU.2021.70.1.014

Abstract. The article analyzes the issue of authorial manifestations in J. Barnes’s novel “Flaubert’s Parrot”. It compares the manifestation of the authorial identity in the novel and in J. Barnes’s essay collection “Something to Declare”. The article proves that there is a definite congeniality between the two texts.However, the author of the article concludes that the manners of presenting information in the novel and essays are different, for the novel contains alternative versions of events and describes imaginary situations. Moreover, the author of the novel introduces a narrator, a certain Geoffrey Braithwaite who serves as his mouthpiece. It is the narrator who tells the story of the character’s travel across the places associated with Flaubert’s life and work. The travels constitute a major part of the narrative accounting for the title of the novel. The story of Braithwaite’s life is laconic and fragmentary. The article analyzes the image of the narrator and singles out two narrative levels, or aspects. The first level is largely associated with J. Barnes’s ideas and can be characterized as literary. The second level is related to Geoffrey Braithwaite, who experiences marital problems and reminds the readers of a Charles Bovary, a character of Flaubert’s novel. The article maintains that in the novel, the authorial identity is manifested at numerous levels. The author of the article underlines that due to the interplay of irony, intertextuality and authorial identity, J. Barnes’s novel “Flaubert’s Parrot” can be classified as postmodernist one.

Keywords: author, authorial mask, J. Barnes, narrative mode, irony, postmodernism, novel, G. Flaubert.

 

References

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