Origin and Ellipsis in the Writing of Hilary Mantel: An Elliptical Dialogue with the Thinking of Jacques Derrida

209 Pages·2019·3.028 MB·English

by  Eileen Pollard

Origin and Ellipsis in the Writing
of Hilary Mantel
This monograph provokes a re-engagement with Derrida’s thinking in
contemporary literature, with particular emphasis on the philosopher’s
preoccupation with the process of writing. This is the first book-length
study of Mantel’s writing, not just in terms of Derrida’s thought, but
through any critical perspective or lens to date.
Eileen Pollard is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University
of Chester.
Routledge Studies in Contemporary Literature
23 Women on the Move
Body, Memory and Femininity in Present-Day Transnational
Diasporic Writing
Edited by Silvia Pellicer-Ortín and Julia Tofantšuk
24 Gender and Short Fiction
Women’s Tales in Contemporary Britain
Edited by Jorge Sacido-Romero and Laura Mª Lojo-Rodríguez
25 Prequels, Coquels and Sequels in Contemporary Anglophone
Fiction
Edited by Armelle Parey
26 From the Delivered to the Dispatched
Masculinity in Modern American Fiction (1969–1977)
Harriet Stilley
27 Theorizing Ethnicity and Nationality in the Chick Lit Genre
Edited by Erin Hurt
28 Extreme States
The Evolution of American Transgressive Fiction 1960–2000
Coco D’Hont
29 Transmodern Perspectives on Contemporary
Literatures in English
Edited by Jessica Aliaga-Lavrijsen and José María Yebra-Pertusa
30 Origin and Ellipsis in the Writing of Hilary Mantel
An Elliptical Dialogue with the Thinking of Jacques Derrida
Eileen Pollard
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge.com
Origin and Ellipsis in the
Writing of Hilary Mantel
An Elliptical Dialogue with the
Thinking of Jacques Derrida
Eileen Pollard
First published 2019
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an
informa business
© 2019 Taylor & Francis
The right of Eileen Pollard to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-20212-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-26019-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by codeMantra
This book is dedicated to Shafqat, Anna, Chris and Don,
with love.

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Epigraph xi
Introduction: Understanding Ellipsis as a Burst Full Stop 1
1 ‘She is No Writer of the Gothic’: Exploding the
Criticism as Origin 11
2 Fludd: Exploding the Gothic as Origin 39
3 Beyond Black: Exploding the Body as Origin 66
4 Giving Up the Ghost: Exploding the Autobiography
as Origin 97
5 Eight Months on Ghazzah Street and A Change of
Climate: Tracing the Silence in Mantel’s Corpus 120
6 Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies: An Elliptical
Reading 157
Conclusion: ‘There Are No Endings. They Are All
Beginnings’: Giving Up as Gift 173
Bibliography 181
Index 193

Acknowledgements
Thank you to everyone who has supported me in the writing of this
book. Most especial thanks go to the staff and students of the English
Department at the University of Chester, as well as to my partner and
family to whom the book is dedicated.