England, England is a satire written by Julian Barnes at the end of the 20th century (1998) in a post-modernist environment in which the USA has become the first world power putting England aside. Inside the novel we can see how Barnes analyze the defects and lacks of his own country; it is about a harsh criticism of the ‘Englishness’. Barnes is a novelist and essayist born in 1946 who has worked as lexicographer (in the Oxford English Dictionary) and as a book and television reviewer. He has been rewarded in many occasions, among them, he won the Man Booker prize for The Sense of an Ending. Considered as a postmodernist writer, literary movement born at the end of the Second World War because of an attempt to avoid modernism no matter what, …show more content…
I would like also underline the presence of sentences which invite us to the reflection, among I have chosen the next ones: “But in his view you could -and should- be able to embrace time and change and age without becoming a historical depressive” and “I would say that I am happy because I deride that modern conception. I am happy, to use that unavoidable term, precisely because I do not seek happiness”. Life is about enjoying and not worry about the past, it is about keep going no matter what. If we look at the structure, England, England is divided in three chapters starring Martha Cochrane; we might consider the first one as a prologue with her childhood memories, the second one as the main issue and the last one as the epilogue with her old
By satirizing the “greatness” and arrogance of England, Kincaid criticizes England’s imperialistic, choking grip on Antiguan culture. Kincaid displays this harsh criticism when she describes England as a “special jewel”, alluding to the Crown Jewels, to indicate the extent of the false impressions that were bestowed upon the young author (4). Kincaid includes a simile comparing England to Jerusalem, “the place you will go to when you die but only if you have been good” which reveals her deep disgust of the ridiculous perspective the Antiguans held of England (22-23). Her sharp satire cuts both ways; she criticizes England’s “greatness” but also criticizes the Antiguans for their unresistant
Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000.
Schama, Simon. A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World?. New York, New York: Hyperion, 2000. Print.
Copeland, Edward. The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Print
(Victoria University Library data base – Nick Bentley ‘Re – writing Englishness imagining the nation in Julian Barnes’s England, England and Zadie Smith’s White Teeth’.)
Damrosch, David, and Dettmar Kevin, eds. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Vol. 2A. Boston: Longman, 2010. Print.
Earlier in the text she was talking about how she was surrounded by England history in her life. She was accepting the idea of it and raised by British values. She had many questions about the real England and how her family were impacted by the British
Does Barnes's novel tell us anything about the "history of the world?" If so, what does it tell us, and how does it make its points? If not, why not—how did he fail in that mission?
British literature continues to be read and analyzed because the themes, motifs and controversies that people struggled with in the past are still being debated today. The strongest themes that were presented in this course related to changing governments, the debate about equity between blacks and whites, men and women and rich and poor, and the concern about maintaining one’s cultural identity.
Carswell, John. The Descent on England; a Study of the English Revolution of 1688 and Its European Background. New York: John Day, 1969. Print.
Ford, Boris, ed, The Pelican Guide to English Literature volume seven: The Modern Age, third edition, Penguin Books, Great Britain, 1973
Christ, Carol T., ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Victorian Age. V. 2b, 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000.
“In contrast with London, where homes are built and torn down according to the whims of capitalism, Howards End is understood to be part of that old, infinitely more authentic England” (Alghamdi 173). The countryside of England becomes more deserted as people move towards areas of industry and money-making. English people like Mrs. Wilcox remain attached to the earth and their heritage, not ready to embrace the emerging world. The pull of Howards End and all its history, enchants the sentimental characters in the novel, especially Margaret. This connection to nature is a part of English heritage that changes, but is not destroyed by the new
Reflection itself is not an exceptional strategy in writing, and it ends up being a feasible and profoundly successful device. The possibility of reflection can fit a think once again into the past, to think back or to recall; however reflection has an intrinsically more
The works of the most successful writers of this generation literally became bibles to those who thought they had lost their identity but had rediscovered themselves in these books. To such people, these novels became their defining elements, and by resurrecting their individualism, they had found a point of departure from which they could finally rebuild their lives. In the period following the First World War, one novel emerged as the dominant literary work that best captured the disorder felt by the common man. It is semi-autobiographical, written by an individual who felt as disillusioned and abandoned by society as the rest of the generation