Worldmaking

Clark, Tom; Finlay, Emily; Kelly, Philippa

doi:10.1075/fillm.5.004int

FILLM Studies in Languages and Literatures

2017

DOI: 10.1075/fillm.5.004int

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Worldmaking

Tom Clark¹,

Emily Finlay²,

Philippa Kelly³

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Cited by 2 publications

References 66 publications

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Approaching the world of non-human experience: Unnatural ways of worldmaking in Ian McEwan’s fiction

Shang

2022

Frontiers of Narrative Studies

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The past two decades witnessed an increasing interest in literary worldmaking. This paper begins with examining the current models of worldmaking, in particular, the model of the phenomenological, the constructive, the cognitive psychological, the media, the narratological, and the ethical. In doing so, it reveals their shared feature of the human-centred view and mimetic bias. Against the backdrop of the non-human turn in the 21st century, it questions the generally accepted assumption that “the representation of human experience is the central aim of narrative” (Fludernik 1996: 51) and gears scholarly attention to non-human agents in literature and their contribution to constructing the non-human world. Drawing on insights from unnatural narratology, it aims to go beyond the existing mimetic paradigm by proposing the unnatural ways of worldmaking. Taking cues of the narrative function of worldmaking and focusing on the non-human character in particular, it delves into three types of non-human worlds in Ian McEwan’s fiction, namely the world of a fetus in The Nutshell (2016), the world of a machine in Machines Like Me (2019), and the world of a metamorphosized being in The Cockroach (2019). Arguably, by projecting the non-human world and representing the non-human experience, unnatural narrative works invite readers to address such questions as what to do with non-human world, how it is made, and ultimately what it means to humans.

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Approaching the world of non-human experience: Unnatural ways of worldmaking in Ian McEwan’s fiction

Shang

2022

Frontiers of Narrative Studies

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“A Wider and Stranger Space”: World Literature and World-building in Xue Yiwei’s Fiction

HUNT

2023

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture

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Through references to Xue Yiwei’s (1964–) emigration to Canada, the translation of his works into English, and his repeated discussion of Western authors, the majority of critics have emphasized Xue’s global outlook. However, to date, there has been relatively little discussion of the ways in which his engagement with the world has shaped his writing. This article considers how Xue Yiwei attempts to “transcend the boundaries of language” and create what he calls a “wider and stranger space for literature” against the background of a historically fraught relationship between Chinese and World literature. What does this space look like? Where can we locate it in relation to China and in relation to the world? How does Xue attempt to shape this space through his writing? This article considers these questions from three angles: Xue’s repeated use of explicit intertextuality, the multilingual and polyphonic nature of his writing, and the way in which his books have circulated beyond China. Despite continuing unevenness in the global literary field, this article argues for points of creative agency in Xue Yiwei’s attempt to “dialogue with the world.”

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Worldmaking

Cited by 2 publications

References 66 publications

Approaching the world of non-human experience: Unnatural ways of worldmaking in Ian McEwan’s fiction

Approaching the world of non-human experience: Unnatural ways of worldmaking in Ian McEwan’s fiction

“A Wider and Stranger Space”: World Literature and World-building in Xue Yiwei’s Fiction

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