The role of the fictional biographer in “The Aspern Papers” by Henry James, Summertime
Date
2023-06
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Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
This thesis is a literary, critical investigation of the role of the fictional biographer in selected writings by Henry James, J.M. Coetzee, Patrick Flanery, and A.S. Byatt. The central focus of the work is the establishment of the possible reason for the inclusion of fictional – rather than real or nonfictional – biographers in “The Aspern Papers” by Henry James, Summertime by J.M. Coetzee, Absolution by Patrick Flanery, and The Biographer’s Tale and Possession by A.S. Byatt. My argument focuses on the essence of the quest for truth, albeit literary truth, and how this determines our appreciation of a work of fiction. This quest becomes evident in the interesting collocation of the five primary texts across historiological, sociological, cultural and philosophical divides. I introduce my work tentatively by defining the concept of the orthodox or real biographer, and ultimately how truth itself is manifested in the biographer’s quest to establish that her subject’s life story is a genuine reflection of her reality. In opposition to the former, I go on to proffer a definition of the fictional biographer. In the first chapter, I explore the philosophy of life-writing with reference to the theories of Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Virginia Woolf and Philippe Lejeune. I also note how modernism and post-modernism are reflected in the five primary texts. In the second chapter, I make specific observations regarding Henry James’ use of the anonymous fictional biographer in his novella, “The Aspern Papers”, and further examine his deliberate metafictional interests in four short stories from his collection, Stories of Artists and Writers. In the third chapter on Summertime, I add to the autobiography-biography dichotomy, and in the fourth chapter I explore Byatt’s playful and erudite metafictional toying with fact and fiction through multiple fictional biographers exploring fictional and real subjects. The fifth chapter focuses on fictional biographers writing outside of their nationality, and explores their aim to determine’ socio-political truths through an engagement with confessional writing in the South African context. Finally, in chapter six I offer a comparative perspective of the uses of the fictional biographers in all five texts.
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of philosophy (Specialising in English) to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024
Keywords
Biography; fictional biographer; Henry James; Byatt; Coetzee; Flanery; truth
Citation
Sandnes, Charmaine Henriette. (2023).The role of the fictional biographer in “The Aspern Papers” by Henry James, Summertime [PhD thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg].