Universität Paderborn

Fakultät für Kulturwissenschaften

Anglistik/Amerikanistik

Subjective Perspectives in

Ian McEwan′s Narrations

Hausarbeit für die akademische Abschlussprüfung

Magister Artium (M.A.)

vorgelegt von

Eva Maria Brockmann-Mauter

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Table of Contents

1.

Introduction

1

1.1

The Thematic Focus

2

1.2

Outline

4

2.

Narratological Context and Terminology

6

3.

Subjectivity in Narration

11

4.

Unreliability in Narration

15

5. Subjective Perspectives in Narration

21

5.1 Story-Internal

Perspectives

22

5.1.1

Intrapersonal Dimension of Subjective Perspectives

22

5.1.2

Interpersonal Relation of Subjective Perspectives

23

- Understanding Other Perspectives

-

Misunderstanding

Other

Perspectives

- No Understanding of Other Perspectives

5.2

Perspectives on the Mediation Level

26

5.3

Perspectives on the Textual Level

27

5.3.1

The Textual Perspective

28

5.3.2

The Perspective of the ′Implied Reader′ or

the

Recipient′s

Role

29

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6.

Subjective Perspectives in Ian McEwan′s Narrations

33

6.1 Intrapersonal Dimension of

Perspectives

35

6.1.1

Aspects of the Intrapersonal Dimension of Perspectives

35

6.1.2

Morality and the Ordinariness of Actions

45

6.2 Interpersonal Relation of Perspectives

54

6.2.1

Understanding

Other

Perspectives

54

6.2.2

Misunderstanding

Other

Perspectives

58

6.2.3

No Understanding of Other Perspectives/Isolation

65

6.3

Subjective Perspectives on the Other Communication Levels

78

6.3.1

Mediation Level Level of Fabula

79

6.3.2

Textual

Level

Mediation

Level

86

6.3.3 Reliability

of

Perspectives on the Textual Level

90

7.

Conclusion

98

Appendix

100

Bibliography

101

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1.

Introduction

1

1.

Introduction

The quality of [McEwan′s] prose is so high that it is easy to sustain interest throughout

many readings. It is terse, dry and evocative of powerful emotions. His grammar is

meticulous, his words precise and his style direct. When writing about his work, it is

almost impossible to précis anything without losing most of its impact, and one can

seldom do better than quote paragraphs wholesale. (Byrnes, 2002: 1)

Ever since McEwan′s first publications, his work has received considerable attention from critics and

scholars. Malcolm claims that he is "certainly one of the most noteworthy of contemporary authors."

(Malcolm, ix)1 The flood of reviews that welcome every one of his new publications and the number

of publications about his work seem to acknowledge that most critics and scholars share this opinion.

Thus, it is not surprising that McEwan has been awarded with a number of prizes for his work.

He received, for example, the Sommerset Maugham award for

First Love, Last Rites

(1976), the

Evening Standard award for his screenplay "The Ploughman′s Lunch" (1983), the Whitebread Prize

for Fiction (1987) and the Prix Fémina Etranger (1993) for

The Child in Time

, and the Germany′s

Shakespeare Prize in 1999.

Enduring Love

was shortlisted for the Whitebread Prize in 1997, as were

The

Comfort of Strangers

and

Black Dogs

for the Booker Prize for Fiction. In 1998, McEwan finally

won the Booker Prize for

Amsterdam

.

Atonement

received the WH Smith Literary Award (2002), the

National Book Critics′ Circle Fiction Award (2003), the Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction (2003),

and the Santiago Prize for the European Novel (2004). For his novel

Saturday

, he won the James Tait

Black Memorial Prize in 2006.

Ian McEwan′s family background does not suggest such a fantastic literary career. He was born

on 21st June 1948 in Aldershot, Hampshire, as the son of a Scottish sergeant major of the British

Army. He spent his childhood on British military bases in England, Singapore, and Libya. During his

schooldays at Woolverstone Hall School (1960-66), McEwan developed a keen interest in English

Literature. Nevertheless, he took a year off after school, worked for the refuse disposal service and

made a trip to Greece before he studied English Literature at the University of Sussex, Brighton,

where he received a B.A. degree in 1970. Subsequently, he took a creative writing course taught by

Malcolm Bradbury and Angus Wilson at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, where he received

his M.A. in English Literature in 1971. During this time, McEwan wrote a number of short stories,

several of which were included in his two volumes of short stories

First Love, Last Rites

and

In

between the Sheets

. In 1972, McEwan made trip to Amsterdam and Afghanistan in his own bus, and

after his return, he worked as a teacher for English as a second language in Norwich. Since 1974, he

has been living by his writing. In 1982, he married Penny Allen (journalist, astrologer and alternative

practitioner), but the marriage was divorced in 1997. He has got two sons from this marriage. In 1997,

he married Annalena McAfee, a literary journalist. In 1989, he was awarded an honorary Litt.D. by the

University of Sussex, Brighton.

1 References that refer to a whole sentence (or passage) will be given after the last sentence. However, if the sources merely

refer to a phrase or to single words, they will be given directly afterwards.

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1.

Introduction

2

McEwan has written his first short stories in 1970 and managed to publish a view in magazines.

However, after publishing his first collection of short stories (

First Love, Last Rites

[1975]) his career

took off. Since 1975, McEwan has published two volumes of short stories (FLLR, and

In between the

sheets

[1978]) and nine novels ­

The Cement Garden

(1978),

The Comfort of Strangers

(1981),

The

Child in Time

(1987),

The Innocent

(1989),

Black Dogs

(1992),

Enduring Love

(1997),

Amsterdam

(1998),

Atonement

(2001), and

Saturday

(2006). McEwan has also ventured into other realms. He has

written a collection of stories for children (

The

Daydreamer

[1995]), three screenplays (

The Imitation

Game & Other Plays

[1980],

The Ploughman′s Lunch

[1985], and

Soursweet

[1988]) and an oratorio

(

Or Shall We Die?

[1983]). McEwan′s work has continuously attracted the attention of critics and

reviewers, and McEwan has been praised to be one of the leading representatives of the young

generation.2

1.1 Thematic Focus

Despite the extraordinary praise of McEwan′s work, it has been discussed most controversially. The

fact that he often engages taboo subjects like masturbation, incest, regression, child abuse,

dismemberment, sadism-masochism etc. earned McEwan the reputation of an author who writes to

shock his audience.3

Although this literature of shock is especially ­ even exceedingly ­ prevalent in his first

novel and his short story collections, McEwan′s desire to startle the reader is evident

throughout his canon (even his two most recent novels,

The Innocent

and

Black Dogs

,

contain scenes overwhelming in their vicious verisimilitude). (Slay, 1996: 7)

McEwan himself appears to be surprised about these attributions and objects them.4 Slay also modifies

his statement quoted above and asserts that McEwan is certainly not a "writer solely of shock horror"

(Sl, 1996: 7), and Nünning affirms that McEwan′s prose is not straining after effect.5 However, the

dark atmosphere in his narrations6 is often described as being repugnant:7 "Although some [critics]

find his unsavoury and often appalling subject matter repugnant, even repulsive, most contend that its

shock value is reflective of the world itself." (Slay, 1996: 5) Like many other critics, Slay asserts that

McEwan uses the shock value of his narrations to "warn [...] the people of a bewildered age." (

Ibid.

)

2 See e.g. Slay (1996), Malcolm (2002), Nünning (1989).

3 "McEwan [...] immediately acquired notoriety as a ′shocking sensationalist′ [...]." (Lewis, 1991: 622) See also e.g. Slay

(1996), Malcolm (2002), and Blackwood (1978).

4 See interviews with e.g. Begley (2002), Hamilton (1978), and Fortin/Louvel/Ménégaldo (1995).

5 "Da sexuelle Themen ohne Romantik oder Erotik, auch ohne jede pornographische Effekthascherei behandelt werden, ist

die Einschätzung M.s als Sensationsautor, der schockieren will, unberechtigt." (Nünning, 1989: 1954)

6 "Die Atmosphäre in der Welt seiner Erzählungen ist [...] düster und melancholisch." (

Ibid.

, 1954)

7 "McEwan has always been taken seriously by critics and scholars, although they have not always liked his books."

(Malcolm, 2002: 4) "McEwan′s imagination seemed as though it could usefully swabbed out with Dettol. Vomit, excrement,

mucus, slime, globs of squashed frog, rancid food and green mould encrusted his pages. Characters were equally putrid.

Sickening smells wafted from their various bodily zones. Their behaviour was noxious." (Kemp, 1992: 6)

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1.

Introduction

3

While the reasons for McEwan′s intense employment of repulsive topics are discussed controversially,

it seems to be undisputable that the narrations are extremely shocking. However, it has hardly ever

been considered why the narrations cause such unease to the reader. It appears that critics and scholars

tacitly agree that the shocking effect of the narrations is caused by McEwan′s choice of repugnant

subjects. The topics, however, cannot be the only reason for the fact that readers feel uncomfortable

with McEwan′s narrations. If this were the case, the extreme emotional response to McEwan′s

narrations would appear to be entirely disproportionate in view of topics of crime and horror stories or

thrillers that can be viewed as being just as macabre or perverse. However shocking the topics, crime

stories and thrillers do not seem to shock the readers as much as McEwan′s narrations do. Although

readers might condemn outraging behaviour of characters in crime stories, the topics nevertheless

seem to cause only a tingly thrill, not revulsion and repugnance.

In my opinion, the shock value of McEwan′s narrations is mainly caused by his particular way to

present these topics. In keeping with this, I consider the form of McEwan′s narrations to be as

important as their content. Scholars usually assume that formal aspects of McEwan′s narrations can be

neglected, and mainly concentrate on the interpretation of the content of McEwan′s narrations.

Nünning and Oeser, for instance, claim that McEwan does not experiment formally in his narrations,8

and furthermore Malcolm states that "metafictional concerns, that is, self-reflexive concerns with

fiction′s possibilities and problems" (Malcolm, 2002: 10) are only considered on the level of topic:

He [McEwan] is certainly frequently concerned with literature itself as a topic, and the

difficulties, possibilities, and complexities of giving an account of things and of telling

stories in general. Such concerns, however, in his later fiction at least, remain on the level

of topic (that is, they are discussed as subject matter) without penetrating the technical

level of the text itself (that is, they are not embodied on the level of narration, language,

narrative organization, or genre, among others). (

Ibid.

)

Although McEwan′s narrations do not primarily appear to experiment with the form, it can be

discovered that McEwan seems to experiment with the employment of perspectives,9 subjective

perspectives in particular. In fact, it can be argued that he taps the full potential of the employment of

subjective perspectives in his narrations as the reader is confronted with the subjectivity of

perspectives on all levels of textual communication. In my opinion, McEwan′s most outstanding

accomplishment is his ability of depicting subjective perspectives in all consequence. The absence of

morality in many of McEwan′s narrations, for example, which is usually regarded as an underlying

topic, can also be seen as a result of depicting consistently a specific subjective perspective.

8 "Seine Werke sind zwar formal nicht zur experimentellen Literatur zu zählen, erschließen aber neue Themenbereiche."

(Nünning, 1989: 1953) "Von der Skizze "Hin und Her" [...] einmal abgesehen, stellt McEwan keine Formexperimente an,

sondern ist einer realistischen Stilhaltung verpflichtet." (Oeser, 1994: 3)

9 See e.g. Kermode: "[McEwan has] a keen technical interest in [...] the point of view." (Kermode, 2001: 1)

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1.

Introduction

4

In the context of subjective perspectives, the aspect of unreliability in McEwan′s narrations has

to be considered. Often, McEwan′s I-narrators are regarded as "unreliable narrators".10 However, it is

striking that even in narrations without an "unreliable narrator" the reader seems to be nevertheless

confronted with unreliability. In my opinion, the aspect of unreliability cannot be tied up with the

concept of an "unreliable narrator", but it is instead linked to the subjectivity of perspectives. The

aspect of unreliability seems to constitute a main feature of subjectivity, and thus, unreliability in

McEwan′s narrations appears to be a result of depicting coherently a specific subjective perspective.

Therefore, unreliability will be examined in some detail in this paper.

The choice of topics, the absence of moral censor, the remarkable isolation of characters and the

general unreliability in McEwan′s narrations are all aspects that can be linked to McEwan′s consistent

depiction of extreme subjective perspectives. The consequent employment of subjective perspectives

in addition with the absence of any objectivity or reliable ′truth′ in general, which confronts the

reader11 with his own subjectivity, is, in my opinion, mainly responsible for the shocking effect of

McEwan′s narrations. Thus, the formal aspect of coherent depiction of subjective perspectives appears

to be just as important as the aspect of content with regard to McEwan′s narrations. Therefore, this

paper will examine the subjective perspectives in McEwan′s narrations in all detail.

The nature of the subjective perspective has not been examined at large in narratology, although parts

of this issue have been discussed thoroughly e.g. "unreliable narration", "perspectives" or the

"subjective novel", etc. An applicable structure for analysing the subjective perspective on all levels of

textual communication is inexistent so far. However, such a structure is required for analysing the

subjective perspectives in McEwan′s narrations and therefore it will be developed in the frame of this

thesis. This new developed structure could also prove to be valuable in textual analysis in general.

1.2 Outline

Before analysing the subjective perspectives in McEwan′s narrations in chapter 6, the theoretical basis

will be provided in the preceding chapters. In chapter 5, an applicable structure for analysing

subjective perspectives on all levels of textual communication will be presented. The findings of

considerations in the chapters 2 ­ 4 will provide the basis for this structure.

In chapter 2, the relevant narratological context will be introduced. For example, diverse models

of textual communication will be discussed, and narratological termini will be considered. In the third

and fourth chapter, the context of subjectivity and of unreliability will be examined respectively. The

aspect of unreliability will be located in the system of textual communication that has been developed

in chapter 2. In this context, the perspectives on the textual level will be introduced.

10 See e.g. Nünning: "Viele seiner Ich-Erzähler sind von einer fixen Idee besessen und erinnern an den Erzähltypus des

′verrückten Monologisten′, der in der literarischen Moderne [...] einen festen Platz hat." (1989: 1953) See also Malcolm, i.a..

11 In the following, the male form will always be used for both genders.

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1.

Introduction

5

Based on the considerations in the chapters 2 ­ 4, an applicable structure for analysing

subjective perspectives on all levels of textual communication will be developed in chapter 5. In the

examination of subjective perspectives, the different levels of textual communication (level of fabula,

mediation level, textual level) will be considered. As the intra- and the interpersonal aspects of the

levels of fabula and of mediation are similar for an examination of the subjective perspectives, they

will be treated in a single chapter of story-internal perspectives (5.1). However, the perspectives on the

mediation level are nevertheless superior to the perspectives on the level of the fabula, and some

aspects are only relevant for the perspectives of the mediation level. These will be treated in 5.2. In

5.3, the perspectives on the textual level will be further clarified.

Having developed an applicable structure for analysing the subjective perspectives in narration

in the fifth chapter, this structure will be applied to McEwan′s narrations in the following chapter in all

detail. In 6.1, the intrapersonal dimension of perspectives in McEwan′s narrations will be analysed.

For this purpose, the main aspects of the intrapersonal dimension will be summarised in groups

(6.1.1). Chapter 6.1.2 will focus on the effect that these aspects have on the protagonists or

respectively on the reader. Namely, the aspects of morality and of the ordinariness of actions will be

discussed. In 6.2, the structure of interpersonal relation of perspectives which has been developed in

5.1.2 will be applied one-to-one to McEwan′s narrations. Thus, the issues of ′understanding of other

perspectives′ (6.2.1), ′misunderstanding other perspectives′ (6.2.2) and ′no understanding of other

perspectives′ (6.2.3) will be examined. While the chapters 6.1 and 6.2 mainly describe the subjective

perspectives in McEwan′s narrations, the focus of chapter 6.3 will be on aspects that concern the

evaluation process of subjective perspectives. Hereby, it will be analysed in how far the perspectives

on the mediation level evaluate the perspectives of the fabula (6.3.1) and in how far the perspectives

on the textual level evaluate the perspectives on the mediation level (6.3.2). In 6.3.3, the evaluation

process of the reader concerning the perspectives on the textual level will be scrutinised. In this

context, it will be focussed on the reliability of the perspectives on the textual level. The seventh

chapter will summarise the results of this paper.

The chapters 2 ­ 4 deal respectively with a variety of topics that are not divided into single sections in

order to maintain a fluid reading in a continuous text. However, in order to enable the reader to

associate the text with the respective topic, keywords are highlighted. In the chapters 5 and 6.3, the

highlighted catchwords facilitate the reader to follow the structure of the text, which is quite complex.

In 6.1 and 6.2, sub-topics are captioned.

The terminology that is respectively relevant for a specific chapter will be italicised in that

chapter. Terminology that is not in the focus of a chapter and that has been defined before will not be

italicised anymore in order to enhance readability. Termini that are frequently used will be abbreviated

according to the list in the appendix.

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2.

Narratological Context and Terminology

6

2.

Narratological Context and Terminology

In this chapter the narratological context is expounded and the terminology is established which

subsequently will be used. This determination of key terminology is fundamental for the development

of a system to analyse subjective perspectives in narration (chapter 5) that will be applied to McEwan′s

narrations in chapter 6. For that reason, a model of textual communication will be developed that

emphasises the distinction of the levels of textual communication. Furthermore, the terms

"perspective" and "point of view" are differentiated. Moreover, the categories of the

narrating

authority

and

intradiegetic narrating authorities

will be derived from Bal′s concept of

focalization

and

placed in the textual communication system. Finally, the notion of

shifting intradiegetic narrating

authorities

will be examined using A. and V. Nünning′s concept for structuring

multi-perspectival

narrations

in a

paradigmatic

and a

syntagmatic

way.

The distinguishing difference between narrative texts and dramatic texts is the existence of a narrator

in narrative texts. This narrator

is not the actual author but is invented by the author.12 Chatman′s

diagram13 illustrates the flow of

textual communication

:

Real author Implied author (Narrator) (Narratee) Implied Reader Real Reader

In his model, the

real author

and the

real reader

are outside the narrative transaction, while the

′implied author′

and the

′implied reader′

14 are text-immanent. However, they are not part of the story.

Wolgang Weiß15 summarises various models of textual communication. The advantage of his

illustration is that it shows the different interlocking levels of textual communication:

Adressat

Autor Autor′ Erzähler Figur Figur des Er-

Leser′

Leser

S/H S/H

zählers

The white frame shows the ontological reality of author and reader; in grey, the level of the discourse

is shown, which embeds the

narrator

and the

fictive addressee

, and in pink, the level of the story is

illustrated, which embeds the protagonists of the narration.

Autor′

and

Leser′

are both constructions

that represent those aspects of the text which are relevant concerning its reception, e.g. in children′s

books, the child as the recipient is implied in the text itself. 16

12 Compare Chatman: "That it is essential not to confuse author and narrator has become a commonplace of literary theory."

(1978: 147)

13

Ibid.

, 151.

14 As the concept of the

′implied author′

and the

′implied reader′

is controversial the term will be set in inverted commas

throughout the text.

15 Weiß, 1979: 132.

16 See Fielitz, 2001: 33f.

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2.

Narratological Context and Terminology

7

For this thesis, a model has been developed that contains aspects of both models, but mainly

emphasises the distinction of the different levels of textual communication:

real implied narrator/

character

(narratee)

implied

real

author

author

focaliser

reader

reader

=

fabula

=

mediation level

= textual level

The differentiated terminology of the different levels is crucial for the analysis instrument that will be

developed in chapter 5.17 Here the

story

includes, beside the

fabula

(Bal, 1985), the

mediation-level

18

as well, since the narrators, focalisers and narratees appear to be part of the

story

though on a different

level.19 This assumption is congruent to Mieke Bal′s presupposed textual communication model (1985;

see next paragraph). The

mediation-level

itself excludes the

fabula

. The characters act out the story ­

they are the centre of the story in the

fabula

itself (orange). The narrator of the

fabula

is outside the

central story on a

mediation-level

(yellow). Although he still belongs to the

story

, he operates on

another level of this interlocked system as long as he does not interfere with the

fabula

but only

narrates it or comments on it.20 In this context, a

narratee

is only existent, if the narrator explicitly

addresses the

narratee

; otherwise, the

narratee

is directly substituted by the

′implied reader′

. In

addition to the

narrator

, a

focaliser

is another narrating authority who operates on the

mediation-level

although the narrated views, feelings and ideas belong to the corresponding protagonist on the

fabula

.

This will be set out in detail later in this chapter. The

′implied

author′

and the

′implied reader′

are both

on a text-internal level, which is outside the

story

(yellow + orange). It is called here the

textual level

21

(grey). Although

′implied author′

and

′implied reader′

are text-immanent, they do not ′interfere′22 with

the

story

. This model of textual communication creates the context for the assignment of subjective

perspectives in narration.

17 Concerning the different levels, the terminology is not standardised. According to a diagram in

A Glossary of
Contemporary Literary Theory

(2000: "Story and Plot") which is based on Fludernik′s

narrative levels

(1993), it becomes

apparent that even the term "story" itself is not uniform for Chatman, Stanzel or Rimmon-Kinnan. Furthermore, the levels of

textual communication

are not exactly congruent to the

narrative levels

where differing levels are defined. So Fludernik′s

terminology can not be adopted here.

18 Here Chatman and Genette, e.g. use the term "

discourse

" and "

discours

", but respectively imply a different meaning with

those terms. In this context, a term was looked for that defines exclusively the level of textual communication on which the

narrator/focaliser and the narratee operate. Because of the lack of such a term it is called here "mediation-level" in

accordance to Stanzel′s definition "mediation by teller or reflector" (taken from Fludernik, 1993: 62).

19 It is debatable whether an omnipotent extradiegetic narrator is part of the story. But the extradiegetic narrator will usually

be directly substituted by the

′implied author′

as he is experienced as such, and then he is outside the story. Nevertheless,

limited third-person-narrators and certainly all I-narrators and focalisers are experienced as being a part of the story.

20 Only an acting I-narrator who is narrating while he is acting is inherent in the

fabula

. All other narrators do not interfere

but only reflect upon the fabula ­ which is in the past. Even an I-narrator gives only "its vision of a

fabula

in which it

participated earlier as an actor" (Bal, 1985: 126), so he reflects upon his earlier self.

21 In the Weiß illustration, the level of the

′implied author′

and

′implied reader′

is not classified. Also, Fludernik′s survey of

narrative levels does not explicitly take this level into account. It seems to be implied somewhere between "the text on page"

and "narration as enunciation" (1993: 62).

22 Although the

′implied author′

appears to be responsible for the

story

,

story

and

′implied author′

are strictly separated and

also perceived as such, while an I-narrator or a focaliser is an invented part of the

story

and may even be interwoven with the

fabula

.

---