A Critical Subversion

The Black Prince published in1973is regarded as the best work of Iris Murdoch (1919-1999). This novel tells about the growth of the protagonist, Bradley Pearson who has experienced self-lost and finally comprehends the authenticity of art.Under Murdoch’s elaborate design, the whole novel which is thought as the perfect fusion of complicated plots and multiple narrative skills is full of postmodern contingency and uncertainty, the deliberation of authenticity of language, literature and even art, and the subversion of classics and authorities. Though many critics have made some deep studies from the perspectives of philosophical thoughts, artistic views and narrative skills, few of them try to link this novel with Linda Hutcheon’s postmodern parody theory. According to Hutcheon’s postmodern parody theory, as a commonly-used narrative skill, the use of parody is to realize the irony of superstition and "ultimate value" and the deliberation of uncertainty, which is coincident with Murdoch’s writing purpose. Therefore, the thesis aims to analyze the use of parody in The Black Prince by using the theory of parody, especially Hutcheon’s postmodern parody theory, so that to reveal how Murdoch finish her special insights of the contingency in life, the nature of art and the relationship between art and reality, art and morality by the use of parody.Generally, this thesis is divided into five parts. The introduction part introduces the general information of Murdoch and the narrative structure of The Black Prince, and summarizes the main researching orientations and achievements of Murdoch and The Black Prince, and offers the researching aims of this thesis.The core of the thesis is from chapter two to chapter five. The second chapter introduces the theoretical framework of this thesis, including the key developing stages of the development of the theory of parody, especially the theoretical connotations of Hutcheon’s postmodern parody.The third chapter offers a specific analysis of the parody of Hamlet written by Murdoch from the perspective of the plots and characters in the novel and comes up with the viewpoint that by the use of parody, Murdoch realizes the subversion of classics and her doubt on the authenticity of literature, which is well coincident with Hutcheon’s theory.The fourth chapter further analyzes the parody of Freud’s Oedipus Complex in The Black Prince. The thesis believes that through the parody of the Oedipus Complex, Murdoch deeply realizes the subversion of literary classics and conventions and perfectly fuses the uncertainty under postmodernism with parody skills.Then, the conclusion part explains the main ideas that by the use of parody, Murdoch realizes the subversion of classics and authorities which help readers rethink about the relationship between history and reality, discourse and power, interprets her doubt on the authenticity of language, literature and art, and expresses her criticism on the rigid narrative mode in traditional literature and the rigid living style in modern society.