On Illness Writing In David Lodge’s Fiction

David Lodge(1935-)is a writer of great influence in post-war Britain,claiming a“double identity” both as a critic and a novelist.In the field of literary criticism,Lodge has always been approaching traditional and modern literary theories with an open-minded attitude,and creatively puts forward the construct of "Problem Novel" and the "Pendulum" theory.In literary creation,Lodge develops various themes and genres with skillful writing techniques.In terms of theme presentation,illness,as a prominent one in Lodge’s fiction,has not yet received due attention among the critics.Taking illness as a medium,this study provides a panoramic view of patients and illness in Lodge’s fiction,and sorts out two categories of illness,namely,the factual illness and the metaphorical illness.The types of illness writing in Lodge’s fiction expand from physical illness,mental illness,quasi-illness to the "avant-garde illness" in literary criticism.This study focuses on exploring a fixed pattern in illness treatment that is typical of Lodge.The sick characters in Lodge’s fiction find ways to heal by means of making recordings,writing diaries and creative works,and other narrative forms,adjusting one’s life experience,self-awareness,ethical identity and desire in a positive way.Traveling comes as a second way of illness treatment.Patients experience rites of passage in trauma,understand the nature of pilgrimage in searching self-identity,and taste the meaning of life in the transcendence of death.Thirdly,in view of the "avant-garde" illness that prevails in literary criticism,Lodge,with accumulated experience and insights in practising literary criticism,proposes a unique way for “curing”.Specifically,the openness of the "Problem Novel" view,the dialogic element in Bakhtin Theory and the reflexiveness of biographical novel writing,all contribute to treating the illness of literary critics.These means of therapy are not only confined within the text,but extends beyond the text,which is manifested in light of therapeutic effects and the autobiographical dimension of illness treatment.In terms of therapeutic effects,the sick characters fall into two categories: "The one who gets cured" and "The one who still wanders in illness".Lodge’s therapeutic tendency in illness writing is more of a "bodily writing",which is closely related to his own experience.Illness writing is not just a logical deduction involving the causes of illness,the paths to cure the illness and the effects of being treated,it is also strongly interpretive in the metaphorical sense.The metaphorical meaning of illness in Lodge’s fiction is explored in the context of politics,ethics,religion and culture.In macro-politics,illness mainly takes the form of post-traumatic stress disorder caused by war,implying the discipline of state violence on people.Through Foucault’s micro-politics,how power works in medical scenarios is readily detected.Under an accomplice of power among medical scenarios,medical technologies and the medical staff,patients are confronted with the self-identity crisis and end up being outsiders.Diseases with strong gender distinctions,such as presbycusis or breast cancer,have become indirect expressions of gender politics,suggesting an unbalanced and reversed relationship between the sexes,and affect how mentality and power relations come into shape.Illness is also endowed with strong moral implications,highlighting the "others" who yearn for family love,moral awakening and life dignity,and further shows Lodge’s own ethical value featuring "Others are supreme while benefiting both others and the self".Lodge also alludes to the collapse of religious authority through illness.In addition,the metaphorical meaning of illness is projected into culture,spreading from the mass culture to the elite one.Many forms of mental illness are essentially products of the prevailing consumerism and the alienation in academia.As a twin-track writer committing himself to both literary creation and criticism,Lodge demonstrates a unique form of artistic expression in illness writing.He builds a juxtaposed narrative structure by means of literary montage,with an aim to depict the images of patients and their fragmented experience in illness.The non-linear plot type is presented by way of retrospective narratives and open endings,the former being utilized to keep timely track of illness,and the latter showing two kinds of patients after receiving illness treatment: "The one who gets cured" and "The one who still wanders in illness".The narrative style of irony also permeates all aspects of Lodge’s illness writing,with verbal irony helping sublimate illness and situational irony provoking thoughtful insights.Lodge’s illness writing is closely linked to his growing experience.The trauma of war from his early years and many sick family members cast a shadow on Lodge’s life.The unsure Catholic identity and the twin-track writing career put Lodge under an identity crisis.Both the "Angry Young" culture and the trend of illness writing highlight the living conditions and constitute an external factor,exerting a deep influence on Lodge’s illness awareness and treatment tendency.Lodge has always inspected illness writing in the fields of literature,society and humanistic medicine.First of all,it inherits and develops the illness writing tradition in the history of western literature,and enriches the study of literary theory and criticism.Secondly,by examining illness itself and a mapping relationship between the individuals,illness and the society,it helps to eliminate the stigma of illness,to glimpse the crisis of individual survival and the predicament of modern civilization,and to arouse an ontological thinking about life.Finally,self-narratives of illness help promote the fusion of horizons between doctors and patients,and inspire the illness treatment in modern medicine.