Contemporary Fiction and the Uses of Theory The Novel from Structuralism to Postmodernism Michael Greaney Contemporary Fiction and the Uses of Theory Also by Michael Greaney CONRAD, LANGUAGE AND NARRATIVE Contemporary Fiction and the Uses of Theory The Novel from Structuralism to Postmodernism Michael Greaney © Michael Greaney 2006 All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988,or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,90 Tottenham Court Road,London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2006 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St.Martin’s Press,LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States,United Kingdom and other countries.Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13:978–1–4039–9146–1 hardback ISBN-10:1–4039–9146–4 hardback This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Greaney,Michael. Contemporary fiction and the uses of theory :the novel from structurali sm to postmodernism / Michael Greaney. p.cm. This book examines the representation,or “novelizations”of literary critical theory (structuralism,poststructuralism,postmodernism) in contemporary fiction,and traces an alternative history of the “theory wars”in the pages of contemporary fiction. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1–4039–9146–4 (cloth) 1.English fiction – 20th century – History and criticism.2.American fiction – 20th century – History and criticism.3.Criticism – History – 20th century.4.Literature – History and criticism – Theory,etc. 5.Structuralism (Literary analysis) 6.Postmodernism (Literature) I.Title. PR808.C93G74 2006 823(cid:2).91409113—dc22 2006045217 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd,Chippenham and Eastbourne Contents Acknowledgements vii 1. Introduction: Theory in(to) Fiction 1 2. The Structuralist Novel 9 Christine Brooke-Rose, Thru Anthony Burgess, MF John Fowles, The French Lieutenant’s Woman David Lodge, How Far Can You Go? 3. From Structuralism to Dialogics: David Lodge 24 David Lodge, Nice Work;Small World;Thinks… 4. The ‘Culture Wars’ and Beyond: Theory on the US Campus 41 David Damrosch, Meetings of the Mind Percival Everett, Erasure;Glyph Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, Masterpiece Theatre John L’Heureux, The Handmaid of Desire James Hynes, The Lecturer’s Tale Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2 5. The Vanishing Author 59 Gilbert Adair, The Death of the Author John Banville, Shroud Malcolm Bradbury, Doctor Criminale;My Strange Quest for Mensonge;To the Hermitage 6. Foucauldian Fictions 83 A. S. Byatt, The Biographer’s Tale Patricia Duncker, Hallucinating Foucault Hervé Guibert, ‘Les Secrets d’un homme’; To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life Julia Kristeva, The Samurai Toby Litt, ‘When I Met Michel Foucault’ v vi Contents 7. Feminism versusPost-structuralism 99 A. S. Byatt, Possession Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus 8. Criminal Signs: Murder in Theory 123 Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose Norman Holland, Death in a Delphi Seminar D. J. H. Jones, Murder at the MLA Julia Kristeva, The Old Man and the Wolves;Possessions 9. The Novel in Hyperreality 140 Julian Barnes, England,England Christine Brooke-Rose, Textermination Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves A. N. Wilson, A Jealous Ghost 10. Conclusion: Fiction after Theory 156 Notes 161 Bibliography 172 Index 181 Acknowledgements I am grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for funding the period of research leave during which this book was completed. I would also like to thank Neil Bennison, Fred Botting, Arthur Bradley, Jo Carruthers, Mary Eagleton, Alison Easton, Anne-Marie Evans, Sarah Gibson, Tim Johnson, Richard Meek, Linden Peach, Jane Rickard, John Schad, Catherine Spooner, Andy Stafford and Andrew Tate. vii This page intentionally left blank 1 Introduction: Theory in(to) Fiction Creative writers are scarcely renowned for their enthusiasm for critical theory. ‘Novels come out of life’, says Julian Barnes, ‘not out of theories about either life or literature’.1On the face of it, this seems like an emi- nently reasonable claim, since fiction so frequently urges us to appreciate that lived experience is infinitely richer and more complex than any- thing dreamt up in the mind of a cold-blooded intellectual. From George Eliot’s Casaubon to Woolf’s Mr Ramsay to Joyce’s Stephen Dedalus, intellectuals tend to fare badly in fiction; they are usually too busy grooming their pet theories to engage meaningfully with their fellow human beings or soak up any of the practical wisdom that everyday life might have to offer. The novel has always been a proudly anti-theoretical genre, one that attaches more significance to the moral adventures of its unpretentioushommes moyens sensuelsthan to the misguided intellectual projects of its introverted system-makers and maladjusted bookworms. Novelists never tire of sabotaging the mental labours of theorists, exposing every ambitious new quest for some key to all mythologies as just another journey down an intellectual blind alley. Nor does the remarkable rise of critical theory in modern literary studies seem likely to allay novelists’ long-standing suspicions of all theories of literature and life. The terms ‘critical theory’, ‘literary theory’, or just plain ‘theory’ have served in recent years as more or less interchangeable flags of convenience for a very loose coalition of interest groups who have found a common cause in their impatience with the intellectual and ideological limitations of traditional literary criticism. ‘Theory’ has become a sweeping but indispensable shorthand for the state of permanent methodological revolution that characterizes contemporary literary-critical debate, with its apparently endless supply of new -isms and -ologies: structuralist and post-structuralist conceptions of language, 1