Radley, Bryan Anthony orcid.org/0000-0002-8219-2418 (2019) The Comic Uncanny in John Banville’s Eclipse. Irish University Review. pp. 322-339. ISSN 0021-1427
Abstract
Humour is a key facet of John Banville's aesthetic but is currently an under-researched aspect of his oeuvre. Few critics devote sustained attention to the role of comedy in Banville's prose; most pay lip service to humour before moving on to more serious business. By contrast, the Banvillean uncanny is often examined as a defining feature of the writer's later work. This article proposes that Banville's novels demonstrate the conjunction of the comic and the uncanny, exposing how they work as interrelated, mutually productive modes. This is especially true when theatricality is also in play, as in Eclipse (2000). Sharing techniques, effects, and concerns--doubling and double-takes, repetition, insinuation and implication, and defamiliarization--the comic and the uncanny combine to create a profoundly unsettling aesthetic. My approach thus emphasizes comedy's potential as a conceptual tool with which to approach the many strange and humorous dissonances of contemporary fiction.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details. |
Keywords: | John Banville,Comedy,Humour Studies,Uncanny,Irish Literature,Contemporary Novel,Eclipse,Shroud,Irish novels,Irish Studies |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > English and Related Literature (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 26 Mar 2019 15:00 |
Last Modified: | 16 Feb 2025 00:08 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.3366/iur.2019.0409 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3366/iur.2019.0409 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:144106 |
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Description: Bryan Radley, The Comic Uncanny in John Banville’s Eclipse, Irish University Review, March 2019
Description: Updated peer-reviewed manuscript, Bryan Radley, The Comic Uncanny in John Banville's Eclipse, Irish University Review, August 2019