Crisis Of An Individualized Society:A Thematic Study Of Ian Mcewan's Early Novels

Ian McEwan(1948-),one of the most influential writers in Britain,has been active in the English literature since 1970 s.Writing in a plain,delicate,direct and poetic style,McEwan makes keen observations on social maladies in contemporary British society and offers deep insights into human history and civilization.On the one hand,his early novels reveal the theme of individualized crisis from the aspects of culture,psychology,politics and morality;on the other hand,they also convey the hope of reconstruction and salvation.The theme of crisis runs through his early novels,which reflects his insightful thinking about human existential predicaments and their solutions.His early works contain rich thoughts about “individualized society”,in which he not only shows various crises of the individualized society,but also expounds its theme,giving them profound interpretation and proposing solutions.Taking the four major novels as the object of study and adopting the concept of“individualization” of sociological theory,the author of this dissertation examines and analyzes the theme of crisis of individualization in McEwan's early novels from the perspectives of culture,psychology,politics and morality in order to reveal the rich thoughts and artistic connotations achieved by McEwan's vivid reflection of contemporary Western society.This dissertation consists of four main chapters in addition to the introduction and the conclusion.The introduction first gives a critical portrait of Ian McEwan as a writer.It then reviews the research about his works at home and abroad,defines the concept of “individualization” and expounds the applicability of sociological theory.And finally it introduces the general idea and framework of this dissertation.Chapter One discusses the theme of cultural crisis of individualized society from the decline of traditional community culture in The Cement Garden.In the novel,McEwan not only shows the collapse of the traditional patriarchal culture and reflects the great influence of the feminist movement,but also highlights the huge separation effects of money in individualized society through description of the decline of the harmonious culture of traditional family.Moreover,the lonely condition of the familyand the decline of the city's characteristic culture show the decline of urban neighborhood culture,embody the functional characteristics of interpersonal relationships in individualized society,and also reveal the harmful and corrosive effects of modern civilization on human minds.What's more,the erosion of the sensory culture embodies the decline of the community culture which has strong cohesive force,shows the exclusion of elegant culture by popular culture,which implies a serious weakening of the national cohesion.All in all,McEwan has a dialogic historical intention through novel writing,expresses his deep regret about the decline of traditional community culture in the individualized society,and also implies his question and criticism on the desire-oriented consumer culture.Chapter Two explores the theme of psychological crisis in individualized society with the spiritual dilemma in The Comfort of Strangers.In the novel,McEwan deconstructs the traditional sense of true love,reveals the pure relationship between people in the individualized society and shows the feature of desire-oriented consumption through the description of the emotional decline of the characters.What's more,the inability of self-identification and the transgression of identity give expression to the loss of individual self-identity in individualized society,and represent the disappearing of traditional identification and the relatively fixed interpersonal relationships.More importantly,the characters' real identity of aimless tourists has an evident contrast with their images as tramps,which reflects their loss of sense of belonging,indicates that the traditional social order has fallen apart in individualized society,and reveals the serious consequences brought by the end of Western metaphysical concepts.In a word,through the writing of various psychological crises of individuals in the uncertainties,McEwan fully demonstrates various psychological discourses in the individualized society,explores various incentives leading to the psychological crises,and expresses his true intention of developing interpersonal communication positively in individualized society.Chapter Three explores the theme of political crisis in individualized society from the alienated politics in The Child in Time.Through the disclosure of violation of politics from the needs of the individuals,McEwan not only deconstructs the harmonybetween individual and politics by showing the serious political consequences brought by the disappearing of sensus communis,but also discloses the huge negative effects caused by the transgression from citizen to individual.What's more,the trust crisis of the government and the loss of its authority,which is triggered by the Children's Handbook,embody the legitimacy crisis of politics,highlight the inherent contradiction between capital accumulation and democratic appeal in capitalist society,and reveal the serious consequences brought by the loss of public sphere in individualized society.Moreover,by demonstrating the serious economic erosion of politics in individualized society,McEwan reveals the crisis of de-politicization in individualized society.In addition,he exposes the decadent nature of the capitalist system by showing its function of rationalization of new inequality of society.Generally speaking,McEwan's writing on the political crisis of individualized society subverts the traditional values of politics and expresses his expectations and ideas for building a harmonious politics.Chapter Four discusses the theme of moral crisis in individualized society with the ambiguity of the moral choices of the characters in the Innocent.Through the description of characters' psychology and behavior of favor for advantages,McEwan shows individuals' lack of moral responsibility and reveals the negative effects of“self-foundational” morality in individualized society.Moreover,the characters' reflection on their own crimes embodies the decay of the characters' moral values and reveals the great influence of the emotional morality on the individualized society,which emphasizes the individual emotions and their expression of good and evil.Most importantly,the violation of the traditional ethical norms represents the loss of the moral foundation in individualized society,shows the extinction of the traditional background of moral practice and reveals the antinomy between good and usability.At the same time,it also reflects the great impetus of consumerism on moral indifferences in individualized society.All in all,by writing on the moral crisis of individualized society,McEwan subverts the traditional moral values and principles,deconstructs the ontological status of morality,and also conveys the moral education ideas based on “empathy” and moral reconstruction ideal of “being responsible forothers”.There are rich sociological thoughts about individualized crises in McEwan's early works.Firstly,McEwan reveals the cultural characteristics of the consumer co-operative model in individualized society by reflecting the collapse of the traditional community culture in individualized society.Secondly,by showing a series of psychological difficulties faced by the individuals liberated from the modern order,which is caused by the erosion of consumerism,McEwan reveals the individuals' psychology as aimless tramps.Thirdly,McEwan represents the ineffectiveness and incompetence of politics in individualized society by presenting the freedom of power caused by the global flow of capital in individualized society and the serious consequences it brings to politics.Fourthly,McEwan criticizes the “self-foundational”morality in individualized society by reflecting the ambiguity of morality.The series of crises of individualized society embody McEwan's gradual interpretation of the theme of crisis from general to concrete.On a deeper level,crises of individualization are the concrete manifestations of the consequences of the end of Western metaphysical ideas in all areas of society.McEwan's early four novels are not only the profound reflections on the crises of individualized society,but also a kind of salvation,conveying the hope of reconstuction.In McEwan's view,the crisis of“individualized society” is not only a kind of social phenomenon of late capitalism,but also a kind of literary writing;it is a kind of aesthetic cognition,a kind of metaphysical reflection and experience,and most importantly a way of salvation.