Introduction: Avant-Garde Possibilities — B.S. Johnson and the Sixties Generation

Jordan, Julia

doi:10.1057/9781137349552_1

Cited by 13 publications

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References 2 publications

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“…37 Johnson used the "time of troubles" 38 in which Christie Malry was published as an inspiration and created a novel which "had a definite political viewpoint". 39 While some scholars see Christie Malry "as a response to two historical events of the early 1970s: the unsuccessful trades union campaign to prevent the Heath government's Industrial Relations Bill from becoming law, and the successful prosecution of the small British anarchist group known as the Angry Brigade" 40 , the others argue that it serves as a commentary on more general social phenomena such as a global raise of terrorism 41 , political murder 42 or widespread industrialization. 43 Regardless the interpretation, a plethora of social issues which Johnson decided to address with his text undoubtedly offers an illuminating insight into pressing matters of the turn of the decade and immerses the reader in an almost political reading.…”

Section: Journalistic Naturementioning

confidence: 99%

Elements of Menippean Satire in B.S. Johnson’s Christie Malry’s Own Double-Entry

Sosin¹

2019

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Menippean satire is an ancient form of prose whose inclusiveness still prevents scholars from reaching an agreement on its one generic definition. While in its classical understanding the genre is regarded as long-extinct, some argue that its elements were carried on to the works of postmodern authors unafraid to experiment with new means of literary expression-B.S. Johnson being their prime example. At first, the author's outward hostility towards well-established conventions makes it highly unlikely for him to draw inspiration from ancient genres such as the Menippean satire. Is it then possible that while still being an uncompromised experimenter, he was also a worthy successor of classical parodists? Echoing James E. Irby's (Borges's editor's) claim that that "all writers are more or less faithful amanuenses of the spirit, translators and annotators of pre-existing archetypes," this paper aims to analyze affinities between Johnson's penultimate novel, Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry (1973), and the features of the Menippean satire as specified by, among others, Mikhail Bakhtin in Problems of Dostoyevsky's Poetics (1984) and H. Rikonnen in Menippean Satire as a Literary Genre (1987). While in its classical understanding this ancient form of prose is regarded long-extinct, these scholars argue that its elements can be found in the works of the more inventive modern authors. In fact, as Brian McHale suggests: "Postmodernist fiction is the heir of Menippean satire and its most recent historical avatar" (Postmodernist Fiction, 1987, p. 172). The paper is an attempt at presenting Johnson more in line with classical tradition, suggesting that it is possible to analyze his works in a broader critical spectrum and thus move them from the peripheral to the mainstream literary discourse. It also raises the question of the (im)possibility of an artistic creation in total isolation from any formerly known conventions.

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Section: Journalistic Naturementioning

confidence: 99%

Elements of Menippean Satire in B.S. Johnson’s Christie Malry’s Own Double-Entry

Sosin¹

2019

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Abstraction in Post-War British Literature 1945-1980

Ferris¹

2022

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This book traces a line of literary experimentation in post-war British literature that was prompted by the aesthetic, philosophical, and theoretical demands of abstraction. Spanning the period 1945 to 1980, it observes the ways in which certain aesthetic advancements initiated new forms of literary expression to posit a new genealogy of interdisciplinary practice in Britain. It is the first sustained chronological study to consider the ways in which a select number of British poets, authors, and critics challenged the received views of their post-war moment in the discovery of the imaginative and idealizing potential of abstraction. At a time in which Britain became conscious of its evolving identity within an increasingly globalized context, this study accounts for the range of Continental and Transatlantic influences in order to more accurately locate the networks at play. Exploring the contributions made by individuals, such as Herbert Read, Ian Hamilton Finlay, and Christine Brooke-Rose, as well as by groups of practitioners, such as the British concrete poetry movement, small press initiatives, and Art & Language, and bringing a wide range of previously unexplored archival material into the public domain, this book offers a comprehensive account of the evolving status of abstraction across cultural, institutional, and literary contexts. The discussions build a vision of an era that increasingly jettisons the predetermined critical lexicon of abstraction to generate works of a more pragmatic abstract inspiration: the spatial demands of concrete poetry, language as medium in the conceptual artwork, the absence of linear plot in the new novel. The post-war period, this book suggests, was witness to the intensification of the meeting between spatiality and visuality in literature.

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Ferris

2022

Abstraction in Post-War British Literature 1945-1980

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Introduction: Avant-Garde Possibilities — B.S. Johnson and the Sixties Generation

Cited by 13 publications

References 2 publications

Elements of Menippean Satire in B.S. Johnson’s Christie Malry’s Own Double-Entry

Elements of Menippean Satire in B.S. Johnson’s Christie Malry’s Own Double-Entry

Abstraction in Post-War British Literature 1945-1980

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