Publication: An Analysis Of The Textual Indeterminacies In Iris Murdoch’S The Unicorn And The Sea, The Sea
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Date
2019-07
Authors
Nejad, Soheila Farhani
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Abstract
This study attempts to investigate the way meaning can be created in two novels by Iris Murdoch , T he Unicorn and The Sea, T he Sea , by emphasizing the n ecessity of interaction between th e reader and the text in the reading process. The main theoretical approaches that will be applied to these novels are structuralism and reader response theory particularly the concepts of “aesthetic response” and “literar y competence” as developed by Iser and Culler, respectively. This will inclu de an investigation of the function of textual indeterminacies as well as various perspectives in these novels. It will be argued that the reader’s ability to reorganize and synthe size the text’s structure of “repertoire” and “strategies” can contribute to the process of making sense of various perspectives and indeterminacies in the text. Moreover, analyzing readers’ ability to “naturalize” different textual elements can be helpful in establishing the function of “literary competence” in the reader’s response to these novels. In this sense, this thesis hopes to bridge the gap in critical response to Murdoch’s fiction by arguing that the combination of certain literary conventions and strategies in each novel as well as the reader’s “literary competence” can contribute to the “actualization” of meaning . The main reason behind the selection of these two novels is the way they are categoriz ed by the critics. Both novels reflect the difficulty of categorization in Murdoch’s practice of writing fiction. The Unicorn is a novel of Gothic mystery and sensation, while The Sea, T he Sea is an autobiographical novel dealing with the narrator’s quest for self - discovery. The Gothic excess in The Unicorn is reflected in the morbidity of the atmosphere as well as sensational events including
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An Analysis Of The Textual Indeterminacies In Iris Murdoch’S The Unicorn And The Sea , The Sea