Mind presentation in Ian McEwan's fiction : consciousness and the presentation of character in Amsterdam, Atonement, and On Chesil Beach / Karam Nayebpour.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nayebpour, Karam, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Consciousness in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (318 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Stuttgart, Germany : Ibidem Verlag, [2017]

Summary:

This book explores the central fictional minds in three of Ian McEwan's most popular narratives. Mind presentation constitutes the main part of characterization in the second phase of McEwan's writing, where his plot structure depends to a large degree on the presentation of the characters' mental workings. In Amsterdam (1998), Atonement (2003), and On Chesil Beach (2007), the construction process of the fictional minds, the degree their functioning is impacted by their experiences, and the way their mental aspect controls their behavior and relationships are critical to the stories. Relying on insights and methods from cognitive narratology, this study follows two purposes: It firstly analyzes the function of fictional minds and their operational modes in these narratives. Secondly, it explores the impact of the characters' experiences on both their mental functioning and their behavior, especially with view of their relationships. Nayebpour reveals that the plot structure of these narratives highly depends on the lack of a sound balance between the two aspects of the represented minds (intermental/joint thought and intramental/individual thought) as well as on the dominance of the intramental one. The tragic atmosphere in these narratives, Nayebpour argues, is the result of this imbalance.

Contents:

Intro

Table of Contents

List of Abbrevations

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

1.1 Reading McEwan as a Cognitive Novelist

1.2 Mind Representation in Amsterdam, Atonement and On Chesil Beach and the Aim of this Study

2. Cognitive Narratology and Consciousness (Re)Presentation

2.1 Cognitive Narratology and Narrative Experience

2.1.1 Fictional Minds and Cognitive Reader

2.2 Alan Palmer's Approach to Fictional Minds

2.2.1 (Doubly) Embedded Narratives

2.2.2 Fictional Minds and Theory of Intermental / Intramental Thought

2.2.3 Modes for Presenting Fictional Minds (Consciousness) in Fiction

2.3 David Herman's Approach to Narrative and Narrativity

2.3.1 What It's Like or Qualia

3. Amsterdam

3.1 Intramental Characterization and Consciousness Presentation: AM

3.2 The Passage from Intermental to Intramenal Minds: Clive Linely's and Vernon Halliday's (Doubly) Embedded Narratives

3.3 The (Im)Balance between Intermental and Intramental Thoughts: Representation of the Impact of Narrative Events and Situations on Clive Linely's Mind

3.4 The Egocentricism and Intermentality: Representation of the Impact of (Intentional) Intramentality on Vernon Haliday's Thoughts and Actions

4. Atonement

4.1 An Intramental Thought against Intermental Minds: AT

4.2 Briony Tallis's Intramental Mind and the Order of the Real World

4.3 In Search of Love: Constructin of an Interminal Mind between Cecilia and Robbie

4.4 The Destructive Impact of Briony's Intramental Thoughts on the Emerging Intermental Bond between Cecilia and Robbie

5. On Chesil Beach

5.1 A Narrative of Unfortunate Misreadings: CB

5.2 The Imbalance in the Intermental Unit between Edward and Florence

5.3 What It's Like to »Love, and Set Each Other Free«: Florence Ponting's Passage from Intermentality to Intramentality.

5.4 The Question of Aspectuality in the Embedded Narratives: Edward Mayhew

6. Conclusion

7. Bibliography.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.