Abstract
A History of the World in 10 ½ 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 ½ 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.
Keywords
Western civilization literary truth historiographic metafiction Julian Barnes A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters
References
- Abootalebi, H. (2015). Commingling of history and fiction in Julian Barnes’ A history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 52, 1-5. doi: 10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.52.1.
- Barnes, J. (2009a). The history of the world in 10 ½ chapters. London: Vintage.
- ———. (2009b). Conversations with Julian Barnes. V. Guignery and R. Roberts (Eds.). Mississipi: The UP of Mississipi.
- Birken, L. (Aug., 1992). What is western civilization?. The History Teacher 25(4), 451-461. https://www.jstor.org/stable/494353
- Brooke, C. F. T. (1938). Sir Walter Ralegh as poet and philosopher. EHL 5(2), 93-112. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2871611.pdf
- Buran, S. (Autumn 2020). Death of “the” history: Alternative and partial (hi)stories in Julian Barnes’s A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters and Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. Kafkas University Journal of the Institute of Social Sciences, 26, 471-498. doi: 10.9775/kausbed.2020.026.
- Buxton, J. (Spring, 2000). Julian Barnes’s theses on history (in 10½ chapters). Contemporary Literature, 41(1), 56-86. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1208964Z
- Candel, Daniel. (1999) Nature feminised in Julian Barnes’ A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters. Atlantis, 21(1/2), 27-41. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41055539
- Certeau, M. (1988). The writing of history. Conley, T. (Trans.). New York: Columbia UP.
- Childs, P. (2011). Julian Barnes. Manchester: Manchester UP.
- Duplessis, R. B. (1985). Writing beyond the ending: Narrative strategies of twentieth century women writers. Bloomington: Indiana UP.
- Elias, A. J. (2001). Sublime desire: History and post-1960s fiction. London: The John Hopkins UP.
- Foucault, M. (1997). The politics of truth. Lotringer, S & Hochroth, L. (Eds.). New York: Semiotext(e).
- Gamble, A. (2009). The western ideology. Government and Opposition 44(1), 1-19. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44484162
- Given-Wilson, C. (2004). Chronicles: The writing of history in medieval England. London: Hambledon & London.
- Groes, S. & Childs, P. (Eds.) (2011). Introduction: Julian Barnes and the wisdom of uncertainty. In Julian Barnes. London: Continuum.
- Guignery, V. (2006). The fiction of Julian Barnes. New York: Palgrave.
- Heraclides, A. & Dialla, A. (2015). Eurocentricism, ‘civilization’ and the ‘barbarians’. In Humanitarian intervention in the long nineteenth century: Setting the precedent (pp. 31-56). Manchester: Manchester UP.
- Huntington, S. P. (Nov.-Dec., 1996). The west unique, not universal. Foreign Affairs, 75(6), 28-46. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20047828
- Hutcheon, L. (2003). A poetics of postmodernism: History, theory, fiction. New York: Routledge.
- Kishlansky, M., Geary, P. & O’Brien, P. (2010). Civilization in the west. New York: Pearson.
- Kotte, C. (1997). Random patterns? Orderly disorder in Julian Barnes’s A history of the world in 10 and 1/2 chapters. AAA: Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 22(1), 107-128.
- Köseoğlu, Berna. (2018). The characteristics of historiographic metafiction in postmodern novel: An analysis of Julian Barnes’s A History of the World in 10 ½ chapters. Recent discussions in social sciences. Talas, M., Çiftçi, H., Yalçınkaya E., Ботакараев, Б., Адилбекова, К. (Eds.). Ankara: Iksad Publishing House.
- Lamarque, P. & Haugom Olsen, S. (1994). Truth, fiction and literature: A philosophical perspective. Oxford: Clarendon.
- Lewis, B. (2002). What went wrong? Western impact and middle eastern response. Oxford: Oxford UP.
- Muthu, L. (2014). Revisiting Noah’s ark in Julian Barnes’ A history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters. Romanian Journal of English Studies, 11, 98-102. https://doi.org/10.2478/rjes-2014-0012.
- Nemo, P. (2005). What is the west? Casler, K. (Trans.). Duquesne University Press.
- O’Brien, P. K. (2007). Philip’s atlas of world history: Concise edition. London: Octopus.
- Raleigh, Sir W. (1971). The history of the world. C. A. Patrides (Ed.). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Rubinson, G. (2000). J. History’s genres: Julian Barnes's A history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters. Modern Language Studies, 30(2), 159-79. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3195384
- Runciman, S. (1995). A history of the crusades: Volume I, The first crusade and the foundation of the kingdom of Jerusalem. New York: Cambridge UP.
- Sesto, B. (2001). Language, History, and Metanarrative in the Fiction of Julian Barnes. New York: Peter Lang.
- Stott, C. (2010). The sound of truth: Constructed and reconstructed lives in English novels since Julian Barnes’s Flaubert’s Parrot. Tectum Verlag Marburg.
- Tate, A. (2011). ‘An ordinary piece of magic’: Religion in the work of Julian Barnes. In Julian Barnes. Groes, S. & Childs, P. (Eds.). London: Continuum. 51-68.
- Tory, E. (2014). “You can’t get by without the dream”: Belief in Julian Barnes’s A history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters. Romanian Journal of English Studies, 11(1), 137-43.
- Trilling, R. R. (2013). The writing of history in the early Middle Ages: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in context. The Cambridge History of Early Medieval English literature. Lees, C. A. (Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 232-56.
- Veeser, H. A. (1989). Introduction. The new historicism. Veeser, H. A. (Ed.). New York: Routledge.
- Walker, B. G. (1983). The women’s encyclopedia of myths and secrets. New York: Harper & Row.
- Wells, H. G. (1921). A Short history of the world: being a plain history of life and mankind. New York: Macmillan.
- Whitehead, A. N. (1979). Process and reality: An essay in cosmology. Griffin, D. R. and Sherburne, D. W. (Eds.). New York: French Press.
- Williams, R. (1960). Culture and society: 1780-1950. New York: Anchor DoubleDay.
Economi The Truth(s) of Western Civilization in Julian Barnes’ A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters
Abstract
10 ½ Bölümde Dünya Tarihi (1989) bir dünya tarihi anlatısı vadederken yalnızca çeşitli Batılı karakterlerin öznel alımlamalarını ortaya koymaktadır. Barnes’ın zayıf bağlarla birbirlerine tutturulan hikâyeleri, dünyayı evrensel hakikatin Batılı tanımının kültürel emperyalizm olarak kullanıldığı hegemonik Batılı bir uzam olarak betimlemektedir. Hikâyelerin arasındaki bağlantılar bulanık görünebilir ancak dikkatlice yapılandırılan ataerkil, dinî ve sanatsal unsurlar, hakikat kavramının tanımının çoğulluğunu dışa vururken aynı zamanda hakikatin nasıl belirgin ve ayrıcalıklı bir şekilde Batıya ait bir medeniyet anlayışı yaratmak için bir araç olarak kullanıldığını da göstermektedir. Bu çalışma, toplumsal cinsiyet ilişkileri, din, sanat ve Batı medeniyetinin dışında kalan kültürlere dair alımlamalara odaklanarak 10 ½ Bölümde Dünya Tarihi romanında Julian Barnes’ın yapısökümüne uğratmayı hedeflerken yeniden ürettiği Batı medeniyetinin temel dinamiklerini ortaya koymayı hedeflemektedir. Çalışmanın ilk bölümü Barnes’ın romanında hakikatlerin araştırılmasına ve bu hakikatlerin medeniyetin temel değerlerini ayrıcalıklı şekilde Batılı olan öznel bakış açıları ile oluşturduğu hikâyeleri aracılığıyla nasıl yapısökümüne uğratmaya çalıştığına odaklanmaktadır. İkinci bölümde, Batı medeniyetinin ana idealleri tanımlanmakta ve bu değerlerin görünürde yapısökümcü bir söylem sunmaya çalışırken nasıl aynı anda hegemonik alt anlamları yeniden ürettiğini göstermek amaçlanmaktadır. Üçüncü bölümde ise çalışma, Barnes’ın temelde salt Batılı bir perspektiften anlam bulan ataerkillik, din ve sanat kavramlarının hikâyeleri aracılığıyla nasıl yıkmaya çalıştığı değerleri yeniden güçlendirdiği ortaya konulmaktadır.
References
- Abootalebi, H. (2015). Commingling of history and fiction in Julian Barnes’ A history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 52, 1-5. doi: 10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.52.1.
- Barnes, J. (2009a). The history of the world in 10 ½ chapters. London: Vintage.
- ———. (2009b). Conversations with Julian Barnes. V. Guignery and R. Roberts (Eds.). Mississipi: The UP of Mississipi.
- Birken, L. (Aug., 1992). What is western civilization?. The History Teacher 25(4), 451-461. https://www.jstor.org/stable/494353
- Brooke, C. F. T. (1938). Sir Walter Ralegh as poet and philosopher. EHL 5(2), 93-112. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2871611.pdf
- Buran, S. (Autumn 2020). Death of “the” history: Alternative and partial (hi)stories in Julian Barnes’s A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters and Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. Kafkas University Journal of the Institute of Social Sciences, 26, 471-498. doi: 10.9775/kausbed.2020.026.
- Buxton, J. (Spring, 2000). Julian Barnes’s theses on history (in 10½ chapters). Contemporary Literature, 41(1), 56-86. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1208964Z
- Candel, Daniel. (1999) Nature feminised in Julian Barnes’ A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters. Atlantis, 21(1/2), 27-41. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41055539
- Certeau, M. (1988). The writing of history. Conley, T. (Trans.). New York: Columbia UP.
- Childs, P. (2011). Julian Barnes. Manchester: Manchester UP.
- Duplessis, R. B. (1985). Writing beyond the ending: Narrative strategies of twentieth century women writers. Bloomington: Indiana UP.
- Elias, A. J. (2001). Sublime desire: History and post-1960s fiction. London: The John Hopkins UP.
- Foucault, M. (1997). The politics of truth. Lotringer, S & Hochroth, L. (Eds.). New York: Semiotext(e).
- Gamble, A. (2009). The western ideology. Government and Opposition 44(1), 1-19. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44484162
- Given-Wilson, C. (2004). Chronicles: The writing of history in medieval England. London: Hambledon & London.
- Groes, S. & Childs, P. (Eds.) (2011). Introduction: Julian Barnes and the wisdom of uncertainty. In Julian Barnes. London: Continuum.
- Guignery, V. (2006). The fiction of Julian Barnes. New York: Palgrave.
- Heraclides, A. & Dialla, A. (2015). Eurocentricism, ‘civilization’ and the ‘barbarians’. In Humanitarian intervention in the long nineteenth century: Setting the precedent (pp. 31-56). Manchester: Manchester UP.
- Huntington, S. P. (Nov.-Dec., 1996). The west unique, not universal. Foreign Affairs, 75(6), 28-46. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20047828
- Hutcheon, L. (2003). A poetics of postmodernism: History, theory, fiction. New York: Routledge.
- Kishlansky, M., Geary, P. & O’Brien, P. (2010). Civilization in the west. New York: Pearson.
- Kotte, C. (1997). Random patterns? Orderly disorder in Julian Barnes’s A history of the world in 10 and 1/2 chapters. AAA: Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 22(1), 107-128.
- Köseoğlu, Berna. (2018). The characteristics of historiographic metafiction in postmodern novel: An analysis of Julian Barnes’s A History of the World in 10 ½ chapters. Recent discussions in social sciences. Talas, M., Çiftçi, H., Yalçınkaya E., Ботакараев, Б., Адилбекова, К. (Eds.). Ankara: Iksad Publishing House.
- Lamarque, P. & Haugom Olsen, S. (1994). Truth, fiction and literature: A philosophical perspective. Oxford: Clarendon.
- Lewis, B. (2002). What went wrong? Western impact and middle eastern response. Oxford: Oxford UP.
- Muthu, L. (2014). Revisiting Noah’s ark in Julian Barnes’ A history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters. Romanian Journal of English Studies, 11, 98-102. https://doi.org/10.2478/rjes-2014-0012.
- Nemo, P. (2005). What is the west? Casler, K. (Trans.). Duquesne University Press.
- O’Brien, P. K. (2007). Philip’s atlas of world history: Concise edition. London: Octopus.
- Raleigh, Sir W. (1971). The history of the world. C. A. Patrides (Ed.). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Rubinson, G. (2000). J. History’s genres: Julian Barnes's A history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters. Modern Language Studies, 30(2), 159-79. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3195384
- Runciman, S. (1995). A history of the crusades: Volume I, The first crusade and the foundation of the kingdom of Jerusalem. New York: Cambridge UP.
- Sesto, B. (2001). Language, History, and Metanarrative in the Fiction of Julian Barnes. New York: Peter Lang.
- Stott, C. (2010). The sound of truth: Constructed and reconstructed lives in English novels since Julian Barnes’s Flaubert’s Parrot. Tectum Verlag Marburg.
- Tate, A. (2011). ‘An ordinary piece of magic’: Religion in the work of Julian Barnes. In Julian Barnes. Groes, S. & Childs, P. (Eds.). London: Continuum. 51-68.
- Tory, E. (2014). “You can’t get by without the dream”: Belief in Julian Barnes’s A history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters. Romanian Journal of English Studies, 11(1), 137-43.
- Trilling, R. R. (2013). The writing of history in the early Middle Ages: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in context. The Cambridge History of Early Medieval English literature. Lees, C. A. (Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 232-56.
- Veeser, H. A. (1989). Introduction. The new historicism. Veeser, H. A. (Ed.). New York: Routledge.
- Walker, B. G. (1983). The women’s encyclopedia of myths and secrets. New York: Harper & Row.
- Wells, H. G. (1921). A Short history of the world: being a plain history of life and mankind. New York: Macmillan.
- Whitehead, A. N. (1979). Process and reality: An essay in cosmology. Griffin, D. R. and Sherburne, D. W. (Eds.). New York: French Press.
- Williams, R. (1960). Culture and society: 1780-1950. New York: Anchor DoubleDay.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture |
| Journal Section | English Language and Literature |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | April 26, 2024 |
| Submission Date | July 18, 2023 |
| Acceptance Date | February 29, 2024 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2024 Volume: 23 Issue: 2 |
