This dissertation examines three novels by the author and critic A.S. Byatt, namely
Possession (1990), Babel Tower (1996) and The Biographer’s Tale (2000), using a
hermeneutic method of analysis. The investigation pays specific attention to the structure of
the novels and how this compares to the structure of the ancient palimpsest. Theoretical
information on the palimpsest as model is based on relevant writings by Thomas Carlyle
(1830, 1833), Thomas De Quincey (1845) through to Josephine McDonagh (1987), Gérard
Genette (1997) and Sarah Dillon (2007). The ensuing argument is that Byatt’s use of
postmodernist pseudo-intertextuality and intertextuality cause her novels to have a
palimpsestic structure of various layers, with the effect that textual boundaries are
transgressed. Ultimately Byatt’s writing strategies result in ontological uncertainty for the
reader. / MA (English), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/11400 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Van der Westhuizen, Therina |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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