Tradition and innovation : self-reflexivity in Iris Murdoch's : The black prince

Abstract

Abstract: This dissertation analyzes Iris Murdoch's novel The Black Prince in order to provide an insight into its innovative elements that were neglected or understimated by the majority of critics when analysing that work. We propose to demonstrate how a consideration of those elements can provide a better understanding of Murdoch as a twentieth century novelist and how Murdoch, by mingling innovation and tradition in the same novel, produces a hybrid that is neither old-fashioned nor too radical in innovation. Conversely, The Black Prince is a novel that challenges the reader into an active role during the act of reading while providing him with a plot he can follow and characters he can identify with. he can follow and characters he can identify with. In the introductory chapter, besides standing the objectives, we provide a brief survey of the author's critics which have mistakenly labelled her as a parochial and old-fashioned writer. We also present brief considerations on metafiction. Chapter two presents a deeper review on metafiction and traces its presence in other novels and other art forms. A series of techniques that can be found in works considered metafictional is provided at the end of that chapter. Frames, as a relevant feature in The Black Prince, and the role the reader has to play, in order to fully enjoy the complexity of the work, are analyzed in chapter three. The analysis considers definitions of frames provided by theorists like Ervin GOFFMAN, Mary Ann CAWS and Boris USPENSKI. In a sub-section the effect of the alternation of frame and frame-break that can be considered as an intrinsical part of metafiction is examined. Chapter four discusses all the implications of characterization; the device of the author/narrator is discussed shedding light on the very process of writing, which provides a questioning of the relationship between fiction and reality. The fact that Murdoch acknowledges that play is intimately linked with art led to an analysis of the games she plays with the reader and the innovative aspects in those games. Chapter five then, speculates on the enigma, narrative roles and allusions, including parody and quotation, as forms of literary games. Finally, the conclusion sums up all the innovative aspects analyzed within The Black Prince and demonstrates how Murdoch, by employing experimental devices, can be placed among the great postmodernist writers, thus contradicting the idea that British fiction is attached to an oldfashioned mode of writing.

Resumo: he can follow and characters he can identify with. In the introductory chapter, besides standing the objectives, we provide a brief survey of the author's critics which have mistakenly labelled her as a parochial and old-fashioned writer. We also present brief considerations on metafiction. Chapter two presents a deeper review on metafiction and traces its presence in other novels and other art forms. A series of techniques that can be found in works considered metafictional is provided at the end of that chapter. Frames, as a relevant feature in The Black Prince, and the role the reader has to play, in order to fully enjoy the complexity of the work, are analyzed in chapter three. The analysis considers definitions of frames provided by theorists like Ervin GOFFMAN, Mary Ann CAWS and Boris USPENSKI. In a sub-section the effect of the alternation of frame and frame-break that can be considered as an intrinsical part of metafiction is examined. Chapter four discusses all the implications of characterization; the device of the author/narrator is discussed shedding light on the very process of writing, which provides a questioning of the relationship between fiction and reality. The fact that Murdoch acknowledges that play is intimately linked with art led to an analysis of the games she plays with the reader and the innovative aspects in those games. Chapter five then, speculates on the enigma, narrative roles and allusions, including parody and quotation, as forms of literary games. Finally, the conclusion sums up all the innovative aspects analyzed within The Black Prince and demonstrates how Murdoch, by employing experimental devices, can be placed among the great postmodernist writes, thus contradicting the idea that British fiction is attached to an oldfashioned mode of writing.enigma, dos papéis narrativos e das alusões, incluindo a paródia e citação, como formas de jogos literários. Finalmente, todos os aspectos inovativos analisados dentro do romance The Black Prince são avaliados para demonstrar que Iris Murdoch, ao empregar mecanismos experimentais, pode ser colocada entre os grandes escritores pósmodernistas, contradizendo assim a idéia de que a ficção britânica está ligada a uma forma ultrapassada de narrativa.