Byatt, Jim (2009) Taboo and transgression : reconfiguring the monstrous in contemporary British fiction. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis considers the remaindered other in contemporary British society, and the
representation of that other in British fiction since 1968. The liberal approach to
otherness that has arguably been a defining characteristic of the British identity since the
Second World War has, I argue, always been incomplete, leaving a remainder to whom
equal representation and cultural acceptance have been denied. By examining a diverse
range of texts which address an equally diverse range of identities, this thesis addresses
the questions of what otherness means in contemporary society, how it manifests and
manages itself, and how the fiction of the period addresses the social anomaly.
In recent studies of controversial fiction, there has been a tendency to focus either on the
aesthetics of excess (eg. Durand and Mandel, 2006), in which the transgression is
primarily stylistic, or else on the marginality of the now-legitimised “other” (in particular
the homosexual, the racial other, or the working class; eg. Nicola Allen, 2008). In
contrast, this thesis examines novels that engage with those figures who have remained
socially excluded, figures whose tabooed identity has persisted in spite of the broader
move toward liberal inclusivity.
The primary texts discussed are, largely, novels that have received little critical attention,
despite their literary credibility, highlighting a reluctance to engage with those
problematic identities that remain outside the realm of cultural legitimacy. The thesis
positions the criminally transgressive (the paedophile, the incestuous family, the
sociopath) alongside the culturally stigmatised (the disabled, the elderly and the dying) in
an attempt to demonstrate a continuity of resistance to a diverse range of tabooed
identities. Theoretically, the argument draws on aspects of cultural studies, structuralism,
anthropology and disability studies in order to examine the representation of the tabooed
voice and to consider its legitimacy in the contemporary literary field.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	English fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism , Identity (Psychology) in literature, Marginality, Social, Social isolation
Official Date:	November 2009
Dates:	Date Event November 2009 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Docherty, Thomas, 1955-
Extent:	262 leaves
Language:	eng

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