Resisting Loss: Guilt and Consolation in Ian McEwan's Atonement.
Ian McEwan's Atonement re- traces the development of twentieth-century fiction from modernist amorality to postmodern relativism, incorporating their shared acknowledgements of the subjectivity of narrative. However, the novel both draws upon and moves beyond these modes of subjectivity as part of a...
| Published in: | Journal of Modern Literature Vol. 42; no. 3; pp. 1 - 19 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Literary Criticism |
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Indiana University Press
Spring2019
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=137319724&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 137319724 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0022281X JML jtl: Journal of Modern Literature issn: 0022281X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Spring2019 vid: 42 iid: 3 pid: 211 pub: Indiana University Press artinfo: ui: 137319724 10.2979/jmodelite.42.3.05 ppf: 1 ppct: 18 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 793KB tig: atl: Resisting Loss: Guilt and Consolation in Ian McEwan's Atonement. aug: au: Weston, Elizabeth affil: University of Memphis/Lambuth su: Atonement (Book : McEwan) McEwan, Ian, 1942- Atonement Relativity Sexual assault 20th century (Literary period) sug: subj: Atonement (Book : McEwan) McEwan, Ian, 1942- Atonement Relativity Sexual assault 20th century (Literary period) keyword: consolation ethics history Ian McEwan narrative ab: Ian McEwan's Atonement re- traces the development of twentieth-century fiction from modernist amorality to postmodern relativism, incorporating their shared acknowledgements of the subjectivity of narrative. However, the novel both draws upon and moves beyond these modes of subjectivity as part of an ethically committed exploration of memory and history. On the one hand, McEwan's writer-figure, Briony, fails to grapple ethically with historical memory, preferring consolation to the real historical record. McEwan's novel itself, in containing Briony's work within a measure of critical distance, does not offer consolation. Rather, it creates an experience in which readers must move beyond Briony's shortcomings and toward a more nuanced acceptance of history's traumas, of the damages of war, and sexual violence: a way to truly do justice to historical memory. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Literary Criticism src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Journal of Modern Literature is the property of Indiana University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Journal of Modern Literature holder: Indiana University Press dt: @attributes: year: 2019 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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