Politics, Satire and Historical Consciousness in Contemporary American Novel
Project no. 931 · Status: Kapanmış · 2015
Summary
The correlation between history and literature, particularly novel, has always been an intriguing issue within the academic studies. The twist of history within a novel or, on the other hand, a variable narration of a historical record provides an explicit proof that both fields are closely interrelated. That is why one of the objectives of this study is the exploration of this interaction between history and literature, particularly novel, through the contemporary literary examples. Another important issue that we deal with in our study is the concept of historical consciousness. Its projection and role of the contemporary American novel in its establishment became another focal point. Besides the historical aspect, the study explores the political issues and power struggles within the contemporary literary texts. The formation, transformation, and reproduction of power, which inevitably exists in every political issue and field, constitute an important part of the dissertation. Analyzing the major characteristics of a political novel, this study links such core issues of government and politics like power relations and ideological apparatuses, that maintain the political structures, to the historical events and the way those are represented within the narrative being discussed. Furthermore, satire, as one of the strongest and effective tools of political criticism, forms another dimension of this dissertation. While satire represents a critical stance and a point of resistance against political and ideological structures, it also appears as an important artistic rhetoric in literature and takes its place in political as well as historical novels. In this context the relations between satire, politics, and American novel are examined in order to disclose their contribution to this particular genre. Subsequently, through the whole structure of the connections between completely different grounds like history, politics and literature this study aims at revealing a multidisciplinary perspective on the literary works of several prolific contemporary American authors.