Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. 243 pages; 23 cm.

Summary

1. "Visions of Alterity: representation in the Works of John Banville offers detailed and original readings of the work of the Irish author John Banville, one of the foremost figures in contemporary European literature. It investigates one of the fundamental concerns of Banville's novels: mediating the gap between subject and object or self and world in representation. By drawing on the rich history of the problem of representation in literature, philosophy and literary theory, this study provides a thorough insight into the rich philosophical and intertextual dimensions of Banville's fiction. In close textual analyses of Banville's most important novels, it maps out a thematic development that moves from an interest in the epistemological and aesthetic representation of the world in scientific theories, over a concern with the ethical dimension of representations, to an exploration of self-representation and identity. what remains constant throughout these different perspectives is the disruption of representations by brief but haunting glimpses of otherness. In tracing these different visions of alterity in Banville's solipsistic literary world, this study offers a better understanding of his insistent and thought-provoking exploration of what it means to be human."--Jacket

Series statement

1. Costerus ; New series, 151

Uniform title

1. Costerus ; new ser., v. 151.

Subject

1. Banville, John > Criticism and interpretation
2. Banville, John
3. Banville, John
4. Self-presentation in literature
5. Other (Philosophy)
6. Philosophy in literature
7. Other minds (Theory of knowledge)
8. Philosophy in literature
9. Self-presentation in literature
10. Das Andere
11. Wissensrepräsentation

Genre/Form

1. Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Contents

1. pt. 1. Self and world -- 1. Books of revolution : the scientific quest for truth -- 2. Books of revelation : epiphany in the science tetralogy -- pt. 2. Self and art -- 3. Better than life : Banville's explicit poetics -- 4. Struggle and strife : Banville's implicit poetics -- pt. 3. Self and other -- 5. To the other : Banville's ethical turn -- 6. A portrait of the other : ethics in the art trilogy -- pt. 4. Self and self -- 7. Self as other : the double -- 8. Masks and mirrors : autobiography in The untouchable.

Owning institution

1. Princeton University Library

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (p. [227]-237) and index.