Structuralist consciousness in three novels : an analysis of Eco's 'Il Nome della Rosa', Nabokov's 'Pale Fire', Fowles's 'A Maggot'

Abstract

The dissertation attempts a structuralist critique of each of the three novels listed above .. A section is devoted to each novel. Each section studies the processes governing the textualization of one aspect of narratology: metafictional status in Il Nome della Rosa, narrative time in Pale Fire, character in A Maggot. The dissertation addresses authorial as well as readerly or critical structuralist consciousness. This permits conclusions to be reached on whether the amenability or otherwise of each novel to a structuralist critique is preconceived or fortuitous. The 'structuralist consciousness' label represents the effort made to maintain an awareness of rather than enslavement to structuralist precepts. Insights derived from other fields of Literary Theory, notably post-structuralism, have been used to render each analysis as comprehensive as the scope of the dissertation allows.