Technology,Faith And Identity

Julian Barnes(1946 —)is a most acclaimed contemporary British writer,whose novels have been widely examined,along with such postmodern features as the playfulness of language,the self-reflexivity of form,the hybridity of genres and styles of writing,etc.,for their concerns with the skepticism about historical truth,the fragmentation of grand narratives(on progress),the constructedness of identity at both personal and national levels,cultural globalization and cosmopolitanism.In his examination about the end of grand narrative on progress,Barnes has also demonstrated,in works like Metroland,Flaubert’s Parrot,Staring at the Sun,A History of the World in 10 (1/2)Chapters,England,England,Arthur & George,The Sense of an Ending and so on,an unmistakable concern with problems related to modern science and technology,which have thrown people into some predicaments and anxieties while reliving them from heavy loads of work.By inviting his audience to experience the same anxieties and dilemmas as his protagonists,Barnes wants to sound a warning to modern people that a sober and sensible attitude should be adopted to save ourselves from the enslavement of technology.Barnes’ philosophical investigations into the question of technology can be best exemplified in Staring at the Sun and England,England.In Staring at the Sun,Pilot Prosser,after participating in many air wars,finally chooses to fly his fighter jet straight towards the sun to kill himself.This implies the despair and helplessness at the destructive force of technology,which has made religion inconsolable and unbelievable to people like Gregory,who is in a constant state of anxiety after failing to find the Absolute Truth and redeem himself with the help of the hyperintelligence of computer science.However,this technological dystopia is offset by the technological utopia where Gregory’s mother leads a lengthy span of happy life of active engagement with challenges and problems brought by the development of technology.The utopian scene of wonder and enjoyment is further investigated by Julian Barnes in England,England,where the hyperreality of the theme park“England,England” replaces the original old England with its rich heritage of culture and traditions.By having the heroine Martha reject the hyperreality created by the simulated theme park and return to the pre-industrial old England,where she is likely to overcome her crisis of identity and restore her bliss and moral integrity,Barnes seems to suggest the significance of technological rejection as a form of dereification.However,at second thought,Barnes is not encouraging a total rejection of technology,as will be explicated at length in this thesis.Barnes’ concern with technology has been noticed by some scholars,but the few studies made from this perspective only examined Barnes’ critique of technology in A History of the World in 10(1/2)Chapters by focusing on the negative effects that technological progresses have on civilization,leaving much unexplored about Barnes’ endeavor to develop a more democratic attitude towards the application and transformation of modern technology.For this reason,the thesis attempts to make a detailed study of Barnes’ view on technology within the framework of Andrew Feenberg’s critical theory of technology by concentrating on Staring at the Sun and England,England.In the meantime,theoretical assumptions on the construction of identity mediated through narrative art will also be drawn on to discuss how the characters in these two novels manage to reconstruct their identity destructed by the ossifying and alienating force of technological reification.The thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter One is a brief introduction into the research background,research significance and outline of the thesis.Chapter Two is a review of past studies on Julian Barnes,especially so far as the two novels are concerned.Chapter Three is an introduction into the theoretical assumptions of Andrew Feenberg’s critical theory of technology and Paul Ricoeur’s and Charles Taylor’s theories on narrative identity.Chapter Four will be a detailed study of Staring at the Sun to examine the influence of technological rationality and the transformative power of cultural heritage and storytelling in the(re)construction of alterative faith and democratic identity.Chapter Five will make an in-depth analysis of England,England to examine the destructive force of the simulated theme park as a mode a technocracy and the rehabilitating power of pre-industrial agricultural competition as a form of cultural and aesthetic activity conducive to the establishment of an alternative faith and the reconstruction of narrative identity.Chapter Six is the conclusion of the thesis where Julian Barnes’ attitude towards technology will be summed up.