Solitaries, Outcasts and Doubles
The Fictional Oeuvre of John Burnside
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8862503 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Astrid Bracke (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 421-440 |
| Publication date | 2014-05-19 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | English Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-838X • E-ISSN: 1744-4217 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0013838x.2014.908036 |
| OpenAlex | W2033130097 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 4 |
This article introduces the fictional oeuvre of the Scottish author John Burnside by examining two significant ways in which his most recent novel, A Summer of Drowning (2011), signals a departure from his earlier work. Specifically, it examines the appearance of a female protagonist, and the clear separation between the realms of everyday and magical as the principal features that illustrate this change. In terms of the treatment of the everyday and the magical, I focus on the representation of liminal spaces, solitaries, outcasts and recluses, and the role of the figure of the double or twin as key themes. Although critics have noted a shift in his fictions, the exact elements that constitute this change have not been explored, and I argue that it is precisely the treatment of the everyday and the magical that has contributed to increased scholarly and critical attention for Burnside's fictional prose
Aesthetics · Art · Focus (optics · Key (lock · Liminality · Literature · Politics · Representation (politics · Sociology · Computer Science · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · Themes in Literature Analysis · Travel Writing and Literature
| Citations per year | 0.33 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2024 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |