Confinement,Discipline And Resistance

Julian Barnes(1946-)is one of the most brilliant writers in the contemporary British literary world.He was nominated for the Man Booker Prize four times and won it in 2011.His works are rich in profound philosophical thoughts,acute historical consciousness and humanistic concern.The Noise of Time is Barnes’s latest work,a fictional biographical novel with the famous Russian composer Shostakovich as protagonist,which narrates three critical moments in the composer’s life when he struggles with power.Through the delicate portrayal of the protagonist’s inner world,the novel represents his great pain and helplessness under the pressure of power.Fortunately,his pursuit for the purity of music frees him from being thoroughly disappointed.By analyzing the Soviet society presented in the novel from the perspective of power space,the thesis investigates the functioning of discipline and its impact on individuals,and elaborates the strategies of resistance adopted by different individuals in the face of ubiquitous disciplineApart from the introduction and conclusion,the main body of the thesis consists of three chapters.Chapter One analyzes the manifestations of confinement in power space.Firstly,power gazes at the Soviet society through the Big House.By sending special agents to arrest the dissenters,it maintains the social order effectively in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.Secondly,power implements ideological manipulation on the Soviet delegates led by Shostakovich at the Congress for World Peace,making them the mouthpiece of power and thus abridging their freedom of speech.Then,power requires Shostakovich to join the Party and appoints him as Chairman of the Russian Federation Union of Composers,which confines the protagonist to its domination by assimilating his standpoint.Ultimately,power turns the Soviet society into a Panopticon so as to monitor and control people’s behavior incessantlyChapter Two investigates the mechanism of discipline in power space and its influence.First comes the hierarchical supervision within national institutions.The authorities entrust the composer with an important position while closely observing the changes of his ideas,which makes him at a loss under the dual status of both the supervisor and the supervised.Next is the normalizing judgement on musical composition.Once the composer deviates from the norms set by the authorities,he will face the end of his career as well as the threat of his life.With the right of speech to judge the composer and his music,the authorities correct him repeatedly under the scrutiny of the public and successfully shape "an optimistic Shostakovich".Under the discipline and suppression of power,individuals are faced with tough choices and thus fall further into the living predicament.Chapter Three discusses the strategies of resistance adopted by different individuals to break away from the constraints of disciplinary power.To begin with,faced with the ubiquitous surveillance and discipline,exiled composers adopt an evasive maneuver.They escape to the West to find a land of freedom and turn a blind eye to the sufferings of their compatriots,trying to sever all ties with their homeland.And for Shostakovich,he chooses to resist with the ironic discourse so as to perform his duties to the family and art.Nevertheless,the irony that he relies on is misunderstood due to the lack of a requisite discourse community in the special social context.Afterwards,the protagonist gets a clear understanding of his predicament and turns to the quest for the aesthetics of existence.He begins to care for the self by returning back to his beloved music so as to gain the freedom of the spirit.By analyzing the confinement and discipline of the power space in the novel,the thesis reveals that power is ubiquitous and thus individuals cannot escape from the complex power relations in a disciplinary society.It is reasonable for individuals to resist against discipline by looking inward for the pursuit of self-improvement after realizing the harsh reality.In this way,they are able to remind themselves to avoid being unconsciously assimilated by external power relations.Even if it is impossible to eliminate the disciplinary power,individuals are able to participate in the construction of subject consciousness by turning back to the care of the self.