MODERN BRITISH LITERATURE

1. MODERN BRITISH LITERATURE Lectures: Mgr. Jana Javorčíková, PhD. (lectures, Fhv – seminars) Seminars: Mgr. Ivan Zelenka (Fif – seminars) Mgr. Jana Javorčíková, PhD. (Fhv – seminars)

2. Where to find texts of lectures and seminars: http://www.fhv.umb.sk katedry Katedra anglických a amerických štúdií Štúdium Kurzy denného štúdia Kurzy v odbore učiteľstvo ... Mgr. Jana Javorčíková, PhD. Moderná britská literatúra 1

3. THE CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE POST-WAR BRITISH LITERATURE

4. THE CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE POST-WAR BRITISH LITERATURE

5. THE CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE POST-WAR BRITISH LITERATURE

6. BUTLER EDUCATION ACT 1944 – Butler Education Act passed: (Richard Austen Butler, 1902-82) – compulsory education under 15 – system of sponsorship for the underprivileged students;

7. Characteristics of British Universities of the 1960’s Formal, traditional, conservative, abstract (virtual character of Oxford) Redbrick provincial universities opposed to Oxbridge vs.

8. THE CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE POST-WAR BRITISH LITERATURE

9. RESULTS OF BUTLER ACT POSITIVES: • More democratic access to education NEGATIVES: • ANGRY YOUNG MEN

10. DAVID LODGE (b. 1935) BIOGRAPHY teacher at the University of Birmingham (1960 – 1987) His university studies portrayed in a combination of an autobiographical novel, Bildungsroman Out of Shelter, 1970) and H. James’ international novel (setting: London – Heidelberg).

11. LODGE´S STYLE master of parody (The British Museum is Falling Down, 1965; Changing Places, 1975); parody of V. W.; J. J.; D. H. L; F. K. Often depicts the Anglo-American cultural gap (Small World, 1984); motivations: sexual intrigue and the drive for power; Also wrote theoretical handbooks (The Language of Fiction, 1967) – explaining the methodology of structuralism and empiricism.

12. Synopsis of Small World Setting: Rummidge, everywhere : late 1970´s –early 1980´s Characters: professors and scholars in humanities (Perssy McGarrigle, Angelica Pabbst, Morris Zapp, Phillip Swallow) Genre and tone: academic romance, ironic

13. Post-war modernisation of the old class-ridden and antiquated British society

14. BRITISH POST-WAR LITERATURE VARIOUS GENRES, TOPICS, STYLES, MOVEMENTS OR MISFITS.

15. Six periods/groups according to • Gilbert Phelps: • “Survivors“ of the 1930’s : Virginia Woolf, James Joyce • “Already active novelists“ Leslie Paul Hartley • Post-colonial or anti-colonial novelists: Paul Scott; James G. Farrell; Hanif Kureishi • Female writers: Muriel Spark, Beryl Bainbridge • Angry Young Men: John Osborne, J. Wain, J. Braine • “Misfits“: John Fowles, David Lodge, Ian McEwan

16. SUBJECT CLASSIFICATION: Serious novels: Graham Greene Comic novels: G. Greene Linguistic experimens: Anthony Burgess Traditionalists: August Wilson Detective novels: A. Christie Spy novels: John Le Carré Political allegories: George Orwell Sci-fi: Aldous Huxley

17. CHRONOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION: The 30´s: All the Fun The 40´s: Extravagance and Reason The 50´s: Anger and Fear The 60´s and 70´s: Dreams Revived

18. Before we talk about movemements and groups... • TWO PROBLEMS: • Self-classification or authors • POSTMODERNISM - “ownership of the text“

19. 1. Self-classification of authors: • Classification of authors is not easy. • Take, for example Alan Sillitoe. • He is a “typical“ representative of the literary group called “Angry Young Men“ : • Sillitoe himself was born to a working class family but was able to pursue in his studies at a university due to a state sponsorship • His main representatives followed the same carreer (e.g. Arthur Seeton) • He wrote most of his novels during the highlights of the „Angry Young Men“ period. • However, he refused to be labeled an “angry young man“ Alan Sillitoe (Writer)Author of the original novel and scriptwriter of the screenplay for the film. A bestselling novelist for the past 40 years, Alan Sillitoe has lately produced his long-awaited sequel to that first novel, Birthday (Flamingo, 2002).

20. 2. MODERNISM vs. POSTMODERNISM • MODERNISTS: James Joyce; V. W.; Edwar M. Foster; G. G.; J. Conrad • POSTMODERNISTS: Muriel Spark; Beryl Bainbridge; David Lodge • CHRONOLOGY: • End of the 19th ct. – MODERNISM • 1920´s – highlights of MODERNISM • 1940´s – POSTMODERNISM • 1960´s – highlights of POSTMODERNISM • POSTMODERNISM: • deflection fromestablished rules: double names, characters • conventions, • form: pastiche • style: syntax, sentence structure

21. POSTMODERNISM – BASIC THOUGHTS • MODERNISM:STRUCTURALISM • Language is a system of signs. • Writing is encoding, Reading is decoding. • Text has THE MEANING. • MODERNIST EXPERIMENT: sub-trends: surrealism, old avant-garde • POSTMODERNISM:POSTSTRUCTURALISM,DECONSTRUCTION • Language is asystematic. • Every decoding is another encoding. • Text has A MEANING. • POSTMODERNEXPERIMENT • Novel  anti-novel, noveau roman • Poetry  concrete poetryDrama  total theatre • LITERARY CRITICISM: Marxist criticism, Feminist criticism, New criticism

22. Introduction to postmodernism – Diego Velasquese

23. How many figures are there? 8 9 7 1 4 2 6 3 5

24. Jacques Foucault: Words and Objects PAINTING SERVES AS A METAPHOR... • THE PAINTING = THE TEXT • YOU = THE READER • THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE PAINTING = THE/A MEANING OF THE PAINTING/ TEXT

25. MODERNISMvs. POSTMODERNISM “Postmodern attitude“can be well illustrated by a paining by Diego Velasquese. Postmodernism is a new trend in arts that expands to many genres, for example to architecture, painting, music, fashion or literature. „

26. POSTMODERNISM and FASHION EXPERIMENT COLAGE OF STYLES (fairy tale vs. ballet vs. surrealist wedding dress) AMBIGUITY EXISTENCIALISM mockery QUESTIONS TRADITIONAL VALUES

27. POSTMODERNISM and ARCHITECTURE EXPERIMENT COLAGE OF STYLES AMBIGUITY EXISTENCIALISM QUESTIONS TRADITIONAL VALUES

28. ...meaning is not: • inherent to the text • “given“ or “pre-conceived“ by the writer • controlled by renowned literary critics

29. ...meaning is: • WHAT READERS ADD TO THE TEXT • YOUR INTERPETATION BASED ON • YOUR UNIQUE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

30. ANGRY YOUNG MEN - NOVELISTS • WHEN WERE THEY ACTIVE? • 2. WHO WERE THEY? • 3. WHAT/WHO DID THEY WRITE ABOUT AND AGAINST?

31. 1. WHEN WERE THEY ACTIVE? • Active in the 50´s: • 1951: Leslie Paul´s autobiography: The Angry Young Men • 1956: 8th May – premiére of Look Back in Anger • Characteristics of the period: • “the individual has been devalued, like the pound“ (L. P. Hartley) • people still feeling the hangover of the war • culture was in crisis: narrowness and pessimism of novels John Osborne

32. 2. WHO WERE THEY? The writers themselves and their characters were: • Young, needy, intellectuals • Disillusioned • Displaced • Conformists (contrast to the Beat Generation) Defined themselves against: a blend of homely sensibility; upper class aloofness; liberal politics; avant-garde literary device.

33. 3. WHO/WHAT DID THEY WRITE ABOUT AND AGAINST? • Wrote about : An angry young anti-hero: • working class origin • boorish rather than well behaved • rudely angry rather than angry • philistine rather than arty • Other dominant topics: • rise of a working class man into the upper middle class • hurdles of education, upbringing and accent

34. ANGRY YOUNG NOVELISTS – REPRESENTATIVES John Barrington Wain - b. 1925 in the English Midlands graduated from Oxford - professor of poetry at Oxford (1973 – 78) a member of the Inklinks (an Oxford literary group) Hurry on Down, 1953 – a picaresque novel Living in the Present, 1955 The Contenders John Braine b. 1922 in Bedford, Yorkshire; d. 1986 Room at the Top, 1957; Life at the Top, 1962; The Jealous God, 1964; Stay with Me till Morning, 1970; Writing a Novel, 1974; Finger on Fire, 1977.

35. ANALYSIS OF MAJOR NOVELS BY ANGRY YOUNG MEN: John Wain: Hurry on Down -bestseller Genre: picaresque novel, partly autobiographical Main character: Charles Lumley – university graduate unable to fit in Jack of all trades: smuggler driver bouncer hospital orderly

36. ANALYSIS OF MAJOR NOVELS BY ANGRY YOUNG MEN: John Brain: Room at the Top –bestseller Life at the Top – sequel Style: open – X-rated in the USA Main character: Joe Lampton – an army vet, town-hall clerk Not unlike Clyde Griffits (American Tragedy, Theodore Dreiser) Loves two women rich Susan Brown - Seduces and marries her poor Alice Aisgill “the running fight between himself and society had ended in a draw“

37. ANGRY YOUNG NOVELISTS – OTHER REPRESENTATIVES Colin Wilson: The Outsider; Kingsley Amis: Lucky Jim; Allan Sillitoe: Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Stan Barstow: A Kind of Loving David Storey: This Sporting Life Keith Waterhouse

38. ANGRY YOUNG MEN - DRAMATISTS • John Osborne • Life: • (b. 1929 in London) • educated at "a rather cheap boarding school" • former actor in provincial repertory companies • founding member of the "A. Y. M." group

39. ANGRY YOUNG MEN - DRAMATISTS • John Osborne • Characteristics of Osborne's style • primitive dramatic skills; • "kitchen sink" drama; • mood of frustration: anarchic, cynical, nihilistic anti-heroes, social misfits. • Major plays and novels • The Entertainer, 1957 - comic Archie Rice;Luther, 1961; • Inadmissible Evidence, 1964;A Patriot for Me, 1965 • Autobiography: A Better Class of Person.

40. John Osborne Look Back in Anger • Richard Burton as Jimmy Porter, • the speaker of the generation:"Nobody thinks, • nobody cares, • no beliefs, • no convictions • and no enthusiasm“ • MAJOR ISSUES: • conflict of generations, social classes and opposite sexes: • conflict of the "sycophantic, phlegmatic and pusillanimous” • world of upper class and Jimmy's private, "loose" morality.

41. JIMMY PORTER: A tall, thin young man about 25. A mixtureof sincerity and cheerful malice, of tenderness and freebooting cruelty, restless, importunate, full of pride, a combination which alienates the sensitive and the insensitive alike. ? Jim hates: Sundays Sunday ironing Pretentionus editorials Sycophantic, pusillanimous people Jim loves: ALISON PORTER: Tall, slim, delicate, with surprising reservation in her eyes “I was wrong! I don’t want to be saint. I want to be a lost cause. I want to be corrupt and futile“

42. WORKING CLASS NOVELISTS • Representatives:1. Working-class origin writers • 2. novelists writing about the working class. • Allan Sillitoe • b. 1928 in Nottingham • son of an illiterate tannery laborer • father unemployed during Depression - financial problems • left school at 14 - earned money in RAF (Malaya) • Style: • versatile author: plays, poems (The Rats and Other Poems, 1960) over 50 essays, children´s books: character of Marmelade Jim • labelled also as an AYM • advocate of the social function of novels (like J. Galsworthy, E. Zola) • realistically portrayed working-class heroes

43. Allan Sillitoe • Style: • versatile author: plays, poems (The Rats and Other Poems, 1960) over 50 essays, children´s books: character of Marmelade Jim • labelled also as an AYM • advocate of the social function of novels (like J. Galsworthy, E. Zola) • realistically portrayed working-class heroes

44. WORKING CLASS NOVELISTS – A. SILLITOE • Major writings: • The Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, 1958 • depicts a weekend of a young laborer Arthur Seaton (an anti-hero) • local colour • Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner, 1959 • a collection of stories (Uncle Ernest) • Raw Material, 1972 • autobiographical features

45. Allan SILLITOE: Loneliness of a Long-Distance Runner, 1959 • Style: – rich in inner monologues • – slang • – local colour (dialects, regionalisms) • - Symbol of protest against those in power – upper classes Shows inner rebelion

46. Allan SILLITOE: Saturday Night and Sunday Morning ARTHUR SEATON Saturday nights Sunday mornings • wild parties, • drinking, • dating women • repenting – gone fishing Conformist lifestyle: No motivation ambitions, enthusiasm, beliefs. Shows nihilism, resignation of WC married, older – Brenda younger Doreen

47. WORKING CLASS NOVELISTS – OTHER REPRESENTATIVES • Sid Chaplin • b. 1916, Shildon, Durham - d. 1980 • the son of a coal miner, working in mines at 15 • obtained education from the worker´s Educational Association (Durham) • writing since 1950´s • Durham mining community writings: • The Leaping Lad, 1964 • The Thin Seam, 1950 • The Day of the Sardine, 1961 • The Mines of Alabaster, 1971 • Other writers: Mervyn Jones: Holding On

48. WORKING CLASS NOVELISTS – OTHER REPRESENTATIVES Sid Chaplin Durham mining community writings: The Day of the Sardine, 1961 ARTHUR HAGGARSTON:– his journey to adulthood – conflict between him and his tedious, repressive employer – the only way out of stereotype: gangs, violence

49. POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE IN ENGLISH PAKISTAN CANADA INDIA CEYLON MALAYSIA GUYANA AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND TASMANIA EGYPT, SUDAN, SOUTH AFRICA, NAMIBIA... http://images.google.sk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/post/icons/post.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/post/&h=255&w=428&sz=26&hl=sk&start=71&tbnid=jZzvTNwkMbOMRM:&tbnh=75&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dicons%2B%252B%2Bliterature%26start%3D54%26ndsp%3D18%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Dsk%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

50. LECTURE • NOVELISTS OF THE 50´s • – DISSOLUTION OF THE EMPIRE • 1. What were the reasons for decolonization and its results? • Two reasons for decolonization: 1. Imperialism grew unpopular • 2. Finance • Milestones in decolonization: • 1947 – independent India • 1956 – “Suez fiasco” • 1960´s – conflicts in Malaya, Cyprus • – Falkland Islands crisis • Results of decolonization: • 1. loose association - Commonwealth • 2. mass immigration (1950´s – 60´s)