Contemporary Retellings:<i>A Thousand Acres</i>as the Latest<i>Lear</i>

Schiff, James

doi:10.1080/00111619809599542

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…My analysis of two works with the same source text helps showcase the variety with which authorial strategy takes advantage of the reader’s establishment of an intertextual link, manipulating the reader’s expectations through resemblance and deviation, and conveying an additional layer of thematic meaning. Furthermore, my stylistic approach complements the findings in literary studies (e.g., Cakebread, 1999; Leslie, 1998; Lindhé, 2005; Schiff, 2010, for A Thousand Acres ; Braganza, 2020, for Dunbar ) that revolve around thematic exploration of the King Lear connection of these works.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Tracing palimpsestic text-worlds of key moments in rewrites of King Lear - A Thousand Acres and Dunbar

Fan

2023

Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent years, Text World Theory has been extended and elaborated to explain readers’ understanding of discoursal phenomena where toggling between separate text-worlds is sustained at length, such as extended metaphor and allegory. Similarly, experiencing adaptation, that is, reading a rewrite of a source text, may also involve readers deriving cognitive effects from shifting attention between two ontologically separate sets of worlds throughout a discourse. However, Text World Theory has not been previously applied to the study of this area. This paper deploys Text World Theory to examine the stylistic manipulation of text-worlds in A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley and Dunbar by Edward St. Aubyn, novels that are both modern rewrites of Shakespeare’s King Lear. It aims to contribute on the one hand to Text World Theory by enriching and elaborating a Text World basis for explaining adaptation, and on the other to adaptation studies by demonstrating the utility of a cognitive stylistic approach for analyzing literary adaptation. Specifically, it investigates how the construction of intertextually-relevant text-world patterns serves to draw the reader’s attention to assign significance to certain narrative moments, and to allow the reader to access an additional layer of meaning. This study sheds some light on the possible contribution of special types of contextual information to the negotiation of text-worlds.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Tracing palimpsestic text-worlds of key moments in rewrites of King Lear - A Thousand Acres and Dunbar

Fan

2023

Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Smiley's text has been described as a feminist revision of Shakespeare's play because it reverses the reader's sympathies in the subsequent family feud: in Smiley's version, the two elder daughters, Ginny and Rose, have been sexually abused by their father as children, and their rejection of Larry in the aftermath of the farm's division is presented as an attempt to escape his oppressive influence rather than as an act of motiveless evil. Because a number of critics have already explored the relationship between A Thousand Acres and Lear (Keppel 1995;Leslie 1998;Schiff 1998), I will not rehearse the debate here. However, it is worth pointing out that, in her rewriting of a precursor text, Smiley could herself be seen as engaging in an act of cultural re-membering and revision.…”

Section: Gender and Memory In A Thousand Acresmentioning

confidence: 95%