The Library
A pastoral for Mr. Biswas
Tools
Hentea, Marius (2010) A pastoral for Mr. Biswas. Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Vol.45 (No.1). pp. 97-114. doi:10.1177/0021989409359857 ISSN 0021-9894.
Research output not available from this repository.
Request-a-Copy directly from author or use local Library Get it For Me service.
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0021989409359857
Abstract
The opening chapter of V. S. Naipaul's A House for Mr. Biswas is entitled "Pastoral", but the word itself never appears in the novel. This is especially odd because all of the other chapter titles are grounded within the text as either geographic or temporal designations. "Pastoral" stands out for its absence, and this article reads A House for Mr. Biswas through the lens of the missing pastoral. While many works treat Naipaul's use of landscape, this essay looks at the pastoral as a literary form and also, in Naipaul's view, as a representative metaphor for the British literary tradition. While Biswas is saturated with pastoral imagery, the pastoral is impossible in the colonial society Naipaul depicts. It is only by escaping the temptations of the pastoral, both for Mr. Biswas and also for Naipaul, that meaningful experience can be achieved.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) | ||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > English and Comparative Literary Studies | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Commonwealth Literature | ||||
Publisher: | Sage Publications Ltd. | ||||
ISSN: | 0021-9894 | ||||
Official Date: | March 2010 | ||||
Dates: |
|
||||
Volume: | Vol.45 | ||||
Number: | No.1 | ||||
Number of Pages: | 18 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 97-114 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1177/0021989409359857 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |