The Truth(s) of Western Civilization in Julian Barnes’ A History of the World in 10 1⁄2 Chapters
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21677508 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Begüm Tuğlu Atamer (0000-0002-3807-5783, EGE ÜNİVERSİTESİ, EDEBİYAT FAKÜLTESİ, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 510-526 |
| Publication date | 2024-04-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1303-0094 |
| Publisher | Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.21547/jss.1329076 |
| OpenAlex | W4395662292 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 17 |
A History of the World in 10 1⁄2 Chapters (1989) promises a history of the world, however, it only provides its readers with subjective perceptions of various Western characters. Barnes’ collection of vaguely connected stories depicts the world as a hegemonic Western space in which the Western definition of universal truth is used as a tool of cultural imperialism. The connections between the stories might seem oblique but meticulously structured patriarchal, religious, and artistic elements seem to expose the multiplicity of the definition of truth while simultaneously revealing how truth is used as a tool to create a specific and an exclusive understanding of civilization that is reserved for the West. This study explores how gender relations, religion, art, and perceptions towards cultures outside the Western civilization are narrated in A History of the World in 10 1⁄2 Chapters to reveal how Barnes reinstalls the very dynamics of the Western civilization he aims to deconstruct. The study starts with an exploration of the truths that are narrated in Barnes’ novel in order to demonstrate how Barnes attempts to deconstruct the fundamental values of civilization in his work through his stories offered from subjective points of view that are exclusively Western. The second part of the study defines the main ideals of the Western civilization and correlates these ideals with Barnes’ narrative which offers a seemingly deconstructive discourse while simultaneously reinstating hegemonic undertones. The third part of the study focuses on how Barnes reinstalls a fundamentally exclusive Western understanding of patriarchy, religion and art through his stories
Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Civilization · Hegemony · Literature · Narrative · Politics · Sociology · Western culture · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History · Law · Medieval Literature and History · Philosophy · Themes in Literature Analysis
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |