Language, History, and Metanarrative in the Fiction of Julian Barnes

In his introduction to Newwriting , an anthology of English fiction and poetry, British critic and novelist Malcolm Bradbury numbers Julian Barnes among the new generation of British writers «who no longer [feel] bound to realism, and who freely [explore] surrealism, fantasy, and metafictional play». Marked by an urbanity, wit, and gracefulness of style, Barnes’s novels reflect and examine many of the theoretical problems that preoccupy contemporary writers – problems such as the nature of literary representation and the relationship between history and fiction. Language, History, and Metanarrative in the Fiction of Julian Barnes explores the ways in which Barnes develops these themes in five of his most important Metroland; Before She Met Me; Flaubert’s Parrot; A History of the World in 10½ Chapters; and The Porcupine.