Style and experience as a dichotomy in criticism of the novels of Jean Rhys, Doris Lessing and J G Ballard

Moore, Michael (2014). Style and experience as a dichotomy in criticism of the novels of Jean Rhys, Doris Lessing and J G Ballard. University of Birmingham. M.Phil.

Preview

Moore14MPhil.pdf
PDF - Accepted Version
Download (2MB)

Abstract

This thesis is a survey of the critical responses to the work of Jean Rhys, Doris Lessing and J G Ballard, combined with close readings of three of their novels, these being Rhys’s Good Morning, Midnight, Lessing’s The Golden Notebook, and Ballard’s The Atrocity Exhibition. My primary contention is that the criticism of the work of these three authors is distinguished by a dichotomy between critics focusing on elements described as ‘experiential’, the novels as subjective evocations of real-world phenomena, and those focusing on elements described as ‘stylistic’, the novels as technical exercises. Drawing on the work of Shosana Felman, this dichotomy is seen to result from a careful balance maintained in the fiction itself between stylistic and experiential elements. Though the entire body of criticism mirrors the nature of the fiction it analyses, in attempting to interpret these novels individual critics upset the balance these works strive for between experience and style. In contrast this thesis aims for a reading of Rhys, Lessing and Ballard’s work which retains this balance. In particular the three novels mentioned above are read as ambiguous works of literature which largely frustrate definitive interpretation.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.Phil.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.Phil.

Supervisor(s):