GOTHIC MOTIFS IN ENGLISH NOVEL OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE XX CENTURY (BY THE EXAMPLE OF IRIS MURDOCH'S WORKS)

Abstract

In the article the use of the main "Gothic" motifs in the prose of the British novelist Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) is considered. Such motifs as a motif of reticence and confinement, escape and pursuit, a motif of the altered mental state (dreams, apparitions, insanity), and a motif of secret are among them. The analysis of the novels "The Unicorn", "The Flight from the Enchanter", "A Word Child" and "The Sea, the Sea" reveals a new philosophical, ethic and psychological perception of the traditional motifs of "Gothic" prose.

References

1. Гаспаров Б. М. Литературные лейтмотивы. Очерки по русской литературе XX века. М.: Наука, 1993. 304 с.
2. Заломкина Г. В. Поэтика пространства и времени в готическом сюжете. Самара: Самарский университет, 2006. 228 с.
3. Томашевский Б. В. Теория литературы. Поэтика. М.: Аспект Пресс, 2002. 334 с.
4. Dipple El. Iris Murdoch: Work for the Spirit. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1982. 353 p.
5. MacAndrew El. The Gothic Tradition in Fiction. N. Y.: Columbia University Press, 1979. 270 p.
6. Murdoch I. A Word Child. L.: Penguin Books, 1976. 391 p.
7. Murdoch I. The Flight from the Enchanter. Harmondsworth: Penguin books, 1969. 286 p.
8. Murdoch I. The Sea, the Sea. London - N. Y.: Pengiun Books, 1980. 502 p.
9. Murdoch I. The Unicorn. L.: Granada, 1981. 270 p.

Author information

About this article

Publication history

• Published: May 19, 2014.

Keywords

• «готический» роман
• мотив
• лейтмотивное повествование
• британская литература XX века
• Айрис Мердок
• "Gothic" novel
• motif
• leitmotif-like narrative
• British literature of the XX century
• Iris Murdoch

Copyright

© 2014 The Author(s)
© 2014 Gramota Publishing, LLC

User license

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)