Textualization Of Self In John Fowles's Postmodernist Fiction

British novelist John Fowles's fiction is both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, which is an unusual combination. In 1977, the American novelist John Gardner went so far as to claim that"Fowles is the only novelist now writing in English whose works are likely to stand as literary classics—the only writer in English who has the power, range, knowledge, and wisdom of a Tolstoi or James."(qtd. in Aubrey 124)This dissertation seeks to analyze how Fowles textualizes the self in his three postmodernist novels, The Magus (1965), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969), and Mantissa (1982), as well as the outcome and significance of such textualization. These three novels have been chosen because they represent Fowles's three distinct concerns regarding the textualization of self, namely, the moral self, the social self and the creative self. This dissertation also seeks to show that there actually exist three layers of textualization of self in these three postmodernist novels. The first layer involves Fowles's textualization of the self of each of the protagonists in the three novels. The second layer of textualization involves Fowles's textualization of his own self. The third layer of textualization involves Fowles's invitation for the reader to textualize their own selves. This dissertation consists of three main chapters, in addition to an introduction and a conclusion.The introduction undertakes a critical survey of Western and Chinese literary scholarship on Fowles. Some critics focus on existentialist themes. Others offer Jungian, feminist, deconstructive, and eco-critical readings. Relatively fewer critics seem to devote their critical energy to Fowles's concepts of self. And when they do, they have not recognized Fowles's central concern throughout his literary career with the textualization of self in his fiction, especially the three postmodernist novels he has written, The Magus, The French Lieutenant's Woman and Mantissa. This dissertation, therefore, seeks to uncover not only how Fowles textualizes the moral self, the social self and the creative self respectively in these three novels, but also the outcome and significance of such textualization.Chapter One, with a terse discussion on the moral self of the protagonist in The Magus in moral crisis, seeks to show how Fowles textualizes the moral self in this novel as well as the outcome and significance of such textualization. The search for the self for Nicholas Urfe is one involving the process of illusion and counter-illusion, which characterizes Fowles's textualization of the moral self in The Magus. The outcome of such textualization is Nicholas's eventual enactment of non-deception and non-betrayal in his personal relationships, and his exercise of freedom of will as an evolving morally-committed novelist of ideas. The spiral ending of the novel indicates that the search for the moral self can and should never end, with each search only resulting in an expanding moral consciousness. The significance of such textualization lies in the fact that by textualizng the moral self of Nicholas in The Magus, Fowles has also successfully textualized his own moral self both as a private human being and as an artist, and has invited the reader to gain greater self-knowledge so as to achieve greater freedom of will in enacting moral actions.Chapter Two first discusses the social self of the protagonist of The French Lieutenant's Woman as situated in the social context, and then examines how Fowles textualizes the social self in this novel as well as the outcome and significance of such textualization. The search for the self for Sarah Woodruff is characterized by a constant negation by the patriarchal society of her trying to preserve her real self. The opposition of the female world of Sarah and that of the patriarchal society characterizes Fowles's textualization of the social self in The French Lieutenant's Woman. The outcome of such textualization is Sarah's eventual preservation of her real self by way of self-chosen exile. The double ending of the novel indicates that the result of the search for the social self may be uncertain, because real life is far more complex and ill-functioning. The significance of such textualization lies in the fact that by textualizng the social self of Sarah in The French Lieutenant's Woman, Fowles has also successfully textualized his own social self both as a private human being and as an artist, and has invited the reader to try and preserve their real selves in their given social contexts.Chapter Three discusses the creative self of the protagonist in Mantissa in the process literary creation before analyzing in-depth how Fowles textualizes the creative self in this novel as well as the outcome and significance of such textualization. The search for the self for Miles Green is characterized by his various efforts to figure out the essence of literary creation. The interplay of two opposing impulses, that of Miles Green's struggle for authorial mastery and that of Muse Erato's subversion of his authorial mastery, characterizes Fowles's textualiztion of the creative self in Mantissa. The outcome of such textualization is Miles's realization that tradition and inspiration play equally important roles in his creative process. The circular ending not only indicates that the creative process is circular, but also indicates that the creative self is unstable as inspiration is unstable. The significance of such textualization lies in the fact that by textualizing the creative self of Miles in Mantissa Fowles has successfully textualized his own creative self as an artist, and has invited the reader to textualize their own selves by creating fiction, however small in number such readers might be. This dissertation concludes that there are three layers of textualization of self involved in each of these three postmodernist novels. The first layer of textualization involves Fowles textualizing the self of each of the protagonists in these three novels. The second layer of textualization involves Fowles textualizing his own protean selves, which allows the reader to better understand Fowles the man and the artist, since these three novels combine to offer a self-portrait of the artist that is Fowles. The third layer of textualization involves the reader, potential novelist readers in particular, in that these three novels combine to serve as an invitation for the reader to textualize their own selves. It is also clear that Fowles has undergone a gradual retreat from his broad concern with the human condition at large by textualizing the moral self, to his preoccupation with the preservation of an individual's real self in society by textualizing the social self, and eventually to his sole concern with the creative process by textualizing the creative self. In the early stage of his literary career, he separates his art and his life. In the intermediate stage of his literary career, the boundary of his art and his life blurs. In the final stage of his literary career, his art is his life.