Alternative Paradigms of Literary Realism

211 Pages·2009·1.21 MB·English

by  Don Adams

Alternative Paradigms of
Literary Realism
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Previous Publication by Don Adams: James Merrill’s Poetic Quest (1997)
PRAISE FOR Alternative Paradigms of Literary Realism by
Don Adams
“In his judicious study of five under-appreciated modern and contemporary American and
British writers, Adams powerfully illuminates not only the individual writers he examines
but also the nature of literary reality itself. Demonstrating how allegory, pastoral, and par-
able are used by modernist writers as an alternative to mimesis, Adams reveals as well the
social and political contexts and consequences of such generic choices. Jane Bowles, James
Purdy, Ronald Firbank, Henry Green, and Penelope Fitzgerald emerge from this refreshing
and probing study as innovative, even revolutionary, writers.”
—Claude J. Summers, William E. Stirton Professor Emeritus in the Humanities,
University of Michigan-Dearborn and General Editor, glbtq.com
“Adams shows how gender and genre are intertwined by establishing patterns of expecta-
tions for both human and literary behavior. In this exciting and persuasive study, he dem-
onstrates how misunderstandings of genre-blind readers to the complexities and delights
before them. His work will lead us to widen our reading and our tastes and to appreciate
works for the richness of their queerness and the depth of their frivolity.”
—David Bergman, author of The Violet Hour: The Violet Quill
and the Making of Gay Culture
“Arguing against the common confusion of realism with the mimetic, Adams offers an
imaginative rethinking of subtly diverse genres within the mode of literary realism. His
new readings provide fresh ways of thinking about the often misunderstood fiction of five
under-appreciated twentieth-century writers. This thought-provoking, stimulating study is
illuminated by literary and intellectual surprises, broadly informed by the author’s critical
discussions of allegory, parable, and the pastoral as well as intellectual history.”
—Andrew Vogel Ettin, Professor of English, Wake Forest University
and author of Literature and the Pastoral
“In this inviting, perceptive, stimulating, and highly readable book, Adams leads us to a new
appreciation of under-read and under-valued authors: Jane Bowles, James Purdy, Ronald
Firbank, Henry Green, and Penelope Fitzgerald. Unlike the great modernists Conrad, Eliot,
and James, they refused to curtail and abort the old high forms of allegory, pastoral, and
parable to signal the pathos of loss in our vision, thoroughly incommensurable with our
mimetic realism. Instead, they created alternative, blended atmospheres that allowed full
play to the idealizing forms made commensurable somehow, with the life we live, all at once,
in the aesthetic, ethical, and spiritual spheres. While registering the characteristic malaise of
their age, these writers, so sensitively analyzed by Adams, subtly save us from being stuck in
the sad clichés of transcendental homelessness we have settled for.”
—Naomi Lebowitz, Lewin Professor Emerita in the Humanities,
Washington University in St. Louis
“The chapter on Penelope Fitzgerald is seminal and timely; it alone makes this book
i mportant . . . The scholarly community will benefit from having a serious study of authors
whose work has been deemed unfashionable or even incomprehensible by the literary
establishment.”
—Annette Gilson, Associate Professor of English, Oakland University
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Alternative Paradigms of
Literary Realism
Don Adams
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ALTERNATIVE PARADIGMS OF LITERARY REALISM
Copyright © Don Adams, 2009.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2009 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978–0–230–62186–2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Adams, Don, 1964–
Alternative paradigms of literary realism / Don Adams.
p. cm.
ISBN 978–0–230–62186–2 (alk. paper)
1. Realism in literature. 2. American fiction—20th century—History
and criticism. 3. English fiction—20th century—History and criticism.
4. Bowles, Jane Auer, 1917–1973—Criticism and interpretation.
5. Purdy, James—Criticism and interpretation. 6. Green, Henry,
1905–1974—Criticism and interpretation. 7. Firbank, Ronald,
1886–1926—Criticism and interpretation. 8. Fitzgerald,
Penelope—Criticism and interpretation. I. Title.
PS374.R37A33 2009
823(cid:1).910912—dc22 2009018038
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: December 2009
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
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In Memory of My Mother
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
One Truth as a Matter of Style: Alternative
Paradigms of Literary Realism 1
Two One is Never Quite Totally in the World:
Jane Bowles’ Allegorical Realism 11
Three Whatever Is, Is Wrong:
James Purdy’s Allegorical Realism 45
Four Some Imaginary Vienna: Ronald Firbank’s
Pastoral Realism 75
Five To Create a Life Which Is Not:
Henry Green’s Pastoral-Organic Realism 95
Six There’s a Providence Not so Far Away from Us:
Penelope Fitzgerald’s Parablistic Realism 123
Notes 187
Works Cited 191
Index 197
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following for their attention, encouragement,
and advice: Greg Adams, Christy Auston, Rob Cross, Rich Curtis, Walter
Delaney, Nancy Durbin, Mattias Eng, Heath Gatlin, Annie Gilson, Craig
Goodman, David Hadas, Paul Hart, Joanne Jasin, Maria Jasin, Max
Kirsch, Naomi Lebowitz, John Leeds, Amy Letter, Glenn Malone, Jo Beth
Mertens, Thien Nguyen, Ly Pham, Scarlett Rooney, Rose Shapiro, Rod
Shene, Vicky Stanbury, and Emily Stockard. I also would like to thank my
students in Florida and Vietnam.
Chapter three was first published as the article: “James Purdy’s Allegories
of Love,” from Texas Studies in Literature and Language Volume 50 Issue
1, 1–33. Copyright © 2008 by the University of Texas Press. All rights
reserved.
Chapter four was first published as the article: “Ronald Firbank’s
Radical Pastorals,” from Genre Volume XXXV, Number 1 (Spring 2002),
121–142; reprinted by permission of the University of Oklahoma.
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