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AUTHOR(ITY), REWRITING, AND POSTMODERN REALISM IN ALASDAIR GRAY’S POOR THINGS

Year 2018, , 329 - 339, 25.10.2018
https://doi.org/10.30794/pausbed.425962

Abstract

Alasdair Gray’s novel Poor Things is a rich text as it offers a variety of readings: it can be read as a fantasy novel, a science-fiction text, a fictionalize history/historicized fiction, and an autobiography, just to name a few. However, these readings provide but a limited insight, and the richness of the text can be best understood when it is examined within the frame of postmodern realism. Postmodern realism uses certain conventions such as characterization and attention to detail, yet it is painfully aware of the limitations of such conventions. In other words, postmodern realism uses the realist conventions only to point at their problematic nature, acknowledging the inevitability of the embeddedness of these conventions within the novel genre.In this respect, this paper argues that Gray’s Poor Things uses both realist and postmodern modes of writing, and that its employ of authorial intrusions as well as its rewriting of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein makes it one of the best examples of postmodern realism.

References

  • Axelrod, M. (1995). “A Conversation with Alasdair Gray”, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, 15/2, pp: 103-105. Bentley, N. (2008). Contemporary British Fiction, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. Bernstein, S. (1999). Alasdair Gray, Associated University Press, London. Böhnke, D. (2004). Shades of Gray: Science Fiction, History and the Problem of Postmodernism in the Work of Alasdair Gray, Galda & Wilch, Berlin. Degroseiller, R. (2010). Jean-Martin Charcot. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from http://www.freudfile.org/charcot.html. Elias, Amy J. (1993). “Meta-mimesis? The Problem of British Postmodern Realism”, British Postmodern Fiction, (Eds. Theo D’haen and Hans Bertens), Rodopi, Amsterdam. Gray, A. (1992). Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D. Scottish Public Health Officer, Bloomsbury, London. Gray, A. (2002), “Personal Curriculum Vitae”, Alasdair Gray: Critical Appreciations and a Bibliography, (Ed: Phil Moores), The British Library, Boston Spa and London. Hobsbaum, P. (2010). Unreliable Narrators: Poor Things and its Paradigms. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/aboutus/resources/stella/projects/glasgowreview/issue3-hobsbaum/. Hutcheon, L. (1988). A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, and Fiction, Routledge, New York. Kaczvinsky, D. (2001). “Making Up for Lost Time: Scotland, Stories, and the Self in Alasdair Gray’s Poor Things”, Contemporary Fiction, 42/4, pp: 775-799. Malpas, S. (2005). The Postmodern, Routledge, New York and London. March, C. (2002). “Bella and the Beast (and a Few Dragons, too): Alasdair Gray and the Social Resistance of the Grotesque”, Critique, 43/4, pp: 323-346. McHale, B. (1987). Postmodernist Fiction, Methuen, New York. O’Connor, P. (2008). “The Dash for Africa”, Irish Political Review, Retrieved January 30, 2018, from http://www.indymedia.ie/article/89339?language=en&comment_limit=0&condense_comments=false&save_prefs=true. Phillip, I. (1997). Blurring the Edges: Fantasy, Reality, and the Fantastical Realism of Alasdair Gray. 1-36. Retrieved September 29, 2010, from http://web.mac.com/iandphillip/gray/assets/bte.pdf. Procter, J. (2008). Alasdair Gray. Retrieved January 30, 2017, from https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/alasdair-gray. Rennison, N. (2005). Contemporary British Novelists, Routledge, London and New York. Rhind, J. N. (2008). Alasdair Gray and the postmodern. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Edinburgh. Todd, Richard (1987), “The Intrusive Author in British Postmodernist Fiction: The Cases of Alasdair Gray and Martin Amis", Exploring Postmodernism, (Ed: Matei Calinescu and Douwe Fokkema), John Benjamins, Amsterdam. Varsava, J. A. (1990). Contingent Meanings: Postmodern Fiction, Mimesis, and the Reader, The Florida State University Press, Tallahassee.

Alasdair Gray'in Zavallı Şeyler adlı Romanında Otorite, Yeniden Yazım ve Postmodern Gerçekçilik

Year 2018, , 329 - 339, 25.10.2018
https://doi.org/10.30794/pausbed.425962

Abstract

Alasdair Gray’in Zavallı Şeyler adlı romanı birçok okumaya imkan vermesi nedeniyle zengin bir metindir: fantazi romanı olarak, bilim-kurgu metni olarak, kurgusallaştırılmış tarih/tarihselleştirilmiş kurgu olarak ve otobiyografi olarak okunabilir. Ancak, bu okumalar kısıtlı bir bakış sağlamaktadır; metnin zenginliği en iyi olarak metin postmodern gerçekçilik çerçevesinde incelenirse anlaşılacaktır. Postmodern gerçekçilik karakterizasyon ve detaylara dikkat etme gibi gelenekleri kullanır, ancak bunların kısıtlılıklarının da oldukça farkındadır. Diğer bir değişle, postmodern gerçekçilik, gerçekçi gelenekleri bunların problemli doğalarına işaret etmek için kullanır, bu geleneklerin roman türü içindeki varlıklarının kaçınılmazlığını da kabul eder. Bu bağlamda bu makalede Gray’in Zavallı Şeyler adlı romanının hem gerçekçi hem de postmodern yazım modları kullandığını, metindeki yazar müdahalelerin ve metnin Mary Shelley’nin Frankenstein romanını yeniden yazmasının kendisini postmodern gerçekçiliğin en iyi örneklerinden biri yaptığını söylemektedir.

References

  • Axelrod, M. (1995). “A Conversation with Alasdair Gray”, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, 15/2, pp: 103-105. Bentley, N. (2008). Contemporary British Fiction, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. Bernstein, S. (1999). Alasdair Gray, Associated University Press, London. Böhnke, D. (2004). Shades of Gray: Science Fiction, History and the Problem of Postmodernism in the Work of Alasdair Gray, Galda & Wilch, Berlin. Degroseiller, R. (2010). Jean-Martin Charcot. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from http://www.freudfile.org/charcot.html. Elias, Amy J. (1993). “Meta-mimesis? The Problem of British Postmodern Realism”, British Postmodern Fiction, (Eds. Theo D’haen and Hans Bertens), Rodopi, Amsterdam. Gray, A. (1992). Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D. Scottish Public Health Officer, Bloomsbury, London. Gray, A. (2002), “Personal Curriculum Vitae”, Alasdair Gray: Critical Appreciations and a Bibliography, (Ed: Phil Moores), The British Library, Boston Spa and London. Hobsbaum, P. (2010). Unreliable Narrators: Poor Things and its Paradigms. Retrieved January 30, 2018, from https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/critical/aboutus/resources/stella/projects/glasgowreview/issue3-hobsbaum/. Hutcheon, L. (1988). A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, and Fiction, Routledge, New York. Kaczvinsky, D. (2001). “Making Up for Lost Time: Scotland, Stories, and the Self in Alasdair Gray’s Poor Things”, Contemporary Fiction, 42/4, pp: 775-799. Malpas, S. (2005). The Postmodern, Routledge, New York and London. March, C. (2002). “Bella and the Beast (and a Few Dragons, too): Alasdair Gray and the Social Resistance of the Grotesque”, Critique, 43/4, pp: 323-346. McHale, B. (1987). Postmodernist Fiction, Methuen, New York. O’Connor, P. (2008). “The Dash for Africa”, Irish Political Review, Retrieved January 30, 2018, from http://www.indymedia.ie/article/89339?language=en&comment_limit=0&condense_comments=false&save_prefs=true. Phillip, I. (1997). Blurring the Edges: Fantasy, Reality, and the Fantastical Realism of Alasdair Gray. 1-36. Retrieved September 29, 2010, from http://web.mac.com/iandphillip/gray/assets/bte.pdf. Procter, J. (2008). Alasdair Gray. Retrieved January 30, 2017, from https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/alasdair-gray. Rennison, N. (2005). Contemporary British Novelists, Routledge, London and New York. Rhind, J. N. (2008). Alasdair Gray and the postmodern. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Edinburgh. Todd, Richard (1987), “The Intrusive Author in British Postmodernist Fiction: The Cases of Alasdair Gray and Martin Amis", Exploring Postmodernism, (Ed: Matei Calinescu and Douwe Fokkema), John Benjamins, Amsterdam. Varsava, J. A. (1990). Contingent Meanings: Postmodern Fiction, Mimesis, and the Reader, The Florida State University Press, Tallahassee.
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Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Linguistics
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Papatya Alkan Genca

Publication Date October 25, 2018
Acceptance Date April 4, 2018
Published in Issue Year 2018

Cite

APA Alkan Genca, P. (2018). AUTHOR(ITY), REWRITING, AND POSTMODERN REALISM IN ALASDAIR GRAY’S POOR THINGS. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi(33), 329-339. https://doi.org/10.30794/pausbed.425962
AMA Alkan Genca P. AUTHOR(ITY), REWRITING, AND POSTMODERN REALISM IN ALASDAIR GRAY’S POOR THINGS. PAUSBED. October 2018;(33):329-339. doi:10.30794/pausbed.425962
Chicago Alkan Genca, Papatya. “AUTHOR(ITY), REWRITING, AND POSTMODERN REALISM IN ALASDAIR GRAY’S POOR THINGS”. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, no. 33 (October 2018): 329-39. https://doi.org/10.30794/pausbed.425962.
EndNote Alkan Genca P (October 1, 2018) AUTHOR(ITY), REWRITING, AND POSTMODERN REALISM IN ALASDAIR GRAY’S POOR THINGS. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi 33 329–339.
IEEE P. Alkan Genca, “AUTHOR(ITY), REWRITING, AND POSTMODERN REALISM IN ALASDAIR GRAY’S POOR THINGS”, PAUSBED, no. 33, pp. 329–339, October 2018, doi: 10.30794/pausbed.425962.
ISNAD Alkan Genca, Papatya. “AUTHOR(ITY), REWRITING, AND POSTMODERN REALISM IN ALASDAIR GRAY’S POOR THINGS”. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi 33 (October 2018), 329-339. https://doi.org/10.30794/pausbed.425962.
JAMA Alkan Genca P. AUTHOR(ITY), REWRITING, AND POSTMODERN REALISM IN ALASDAIR GRAY’S POOR THINGS. PAUSBED. 2018;:329–339.
MLA Alkan Genca, Papatya. “AUTHOR(ITY), REWRITING, AND POSTMODERN REALISM IN ALASDAIR GRAY’S POOR THINGS”. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, no. 33, 2018, pp. 329-3, doi:10.30794/pausbed.425962.
Vancouver Alkan Genca P. AUTHOR(ITY), REWRITING, AND POSTMODERN REALISM IN ALASDAIR GRAY’S POOR THINGS. PAUSBED. 2018(33):329-3.