“To Be a Poet and a Poem”: The Life of Literature and the Metafictional Self in A. S. Byatt’s Possession
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Authors
Almeida, Helena
Date
Type
thesis
Language
eng
Keyword
A. S. Byatt , Possession , Metafiction , Self , Identity , Wonder , Melusine , Melusina , Christabel LaMotte , Life Metaphors , Writer , Reader , Writing , Reading , Literary Self , Literature , Life of Literature , Imagination , Creativity , Artistic Subjectivity , Feminine Subjectivity , Woman Artist , Poet , Literary Scholarship , Byatt , Possession: A Romance , Interpretation
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Abstract
This thesis examines the relationship between the self and literature in A. S. Byatt’s Possession: A Romance, analyzing the novel’s portrayal of writing and reading as processes of self-construal. The central concept explored is the idea of a literary self: a dimension of a writer’s self which exists in and through literature, in the simultaneous expression and creation of the self with words. Through an exploration of Possession’s metaphors about the life of literature, the paper both defines the literary self and demonstrates that Byatt’s characters have a life in poetry which transcends their individual mortality and which is related to, but not bound by, the events that constitute, and often constrain, their personal histories. The thesis also considers the dynamics of reading, examining both how reading is depicted within the narrative and how we read Possession, a novel which presents various discussions about poetic composition and literary scholarship alongside the works, supposedly written by the characters, which Byatt’s fictional and real readers alike attempt to interpret. The paper argues that, as a metafictional text, Possession blurs the boundary between fiction and criticism, and that the novel both portrays and prompts the reading of the literary self, such that what it narrates is simultaneously the representation of a fictional act and a real experience. This analysis of Possession’s interplay of life and literature focuses on the characterization of the fictional Victorian poet Christabel LaMotte in relation to her poem The Fairy Melusine. The paper argues that, rather than reading LaMotte and Melusina as merely symbolically connected, recognizing LaMotte’s position as the author of Melusine is crucial to discovering the poet through her poem since, although LaMotte and Melusina share many characteristics and experiences, one crucial difference ultimately separates them: while Melusina is defined by her story, LaMotte has the agency to define herself by writing Melusine. The paper also considers the feminist valences of LaMotte’s Melusine, examining the visions of feminine artistic subjectivity and creativity which Melusina embodies. The thesis concludes with an exploration of the need for wonder in the writing and reading of the literary self.
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ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement
Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University
Copying and Preserving Your Thesis
This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.