Theorising Muriel Spark: Gender, Race, Deconstruction

by M. McQuillan

Overview

Theorizing Muriel Spark is the first serious attempt to engage the writing of Muriel Spark in a sustained theoretical reading. It has a particular emphasis on gender, psychoanalysis, postcolonial and deconstructive reading strategies. Drawing together a range of significant names in the field of contemporary literature and critical theory (including Judith Roof, Susan Sellers, Bryan Cheyette, Patricia Duncker, Nicholas Royle, Willy Maley, Julian Wolfreys, and Helene Cixous) this collection of essays deals with the full range of Spark's literary output. It concludes with a new interview with Muriel Spark.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781349420087
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	01/01/2002
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2002
Pages:	245
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

ELEANOR BYRNE Lecturer in English, Manchester Metropolitan University BRYAN CHEYETTE Professor of English and Judaic Studies, University of Southampton HELENE CIXOUS Director of Studies, Centre d'Etudes Feminines, Universite de Paris VIII PATRICIA DUNCKER Senior Lecturer in English, University of Wales (Aberystwyth) ALAN FREEMAN Lecturer in British Literature and Literary Theory, Yeditepe University, Istanbul JEREMY IDLE Lecturer in English, Nene University College WILLY MALEY Professor of Renaissance Literature, University of Glasgow JUDITH ROOF Professor of English and Film Studies, Ann Arbour University, Michigan NICHOLAS ROYLE Professor of English Literature, University of Sussex SUSAN SELLERS Professor of English Literature, University of St Andrews JULIAN WOLFREYS Associate Professor of English, University of Florida

Table of Contents

Notes on the Contributors Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction: 'I Don't Know Anything About Freud: Muriel Spark Meets Contemporary Criticism; M.McQuillan PART I: GENDER Tales of Love: Narcissism and Idealization in The Public Image; S.Sellers The Future Perfect's Perfect Future: Spark's and Duras's Narrative Drive; J.Roof The Suggestive Spectacle: Queer Passions in Bronte's Villette and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; P.Duncker In Bed with Muriel Spark: Mourning, Metonymy and Autobiography; M.McQuillan PART II: RACE Writing Against Conversion: Muriel Spark the Gentile Jewess; B.Cheyette Muriel Spark Shot in Africa; E.Byrne A Bit of the Other: Symposium , Futility and Scotland; A.Freeman PART III: DECONSTRUCTION Muriel Spark's Uselessness; J.Idle Muriel Spark's Mary Shelley : A Gothic and Liminal Life; J.Wolfreys Not to Deconstruct? Righting and Deference in Not to Disturb: W.Maley Memento Mori: N.Royle PART IV: APPENDICES Grimacing Catholicism: Muriel Spark's Macabre Farce: Muriel Spark's Latest Novel: The Public Image; H.Cixous 'The Same Informed Air: An Interview with Muriel Spark' A Muriel Spark Bibliography: Primary and Secondary Sources Index

Editorial Reviews

'...these diverse and engaging essays offer much-needed depth and substance to Spark criticism...Highly recommended...' - S.Pathak, Choice

From the Publisher