On Englishness In Julian Barnes’s England,England

As a postmodernist writer,Julian Barnes is passionate about exploring issues of memory,identity and historical authenticity in his works.England,England(1998)is one of Barnes’ s two novels dealing with political themes,which focuses on the political form of England in the 1980 s and 1990 s.In this novel,Barnes presents an in-depth exploration of the prevailing notion of Englishness of the time.The novel interweaves the protagonist Martha Cochrane’s pursuit of her authentic identity and her happiness with the transformation of English society.The thesis aims to explore how Barnes constructs Englishness and what kind of Englishness he creates.It analyzes the characteristics of Englishness in England,England,and the factors that influence the process of constructing Englishness by examining the social background of the novel creation and its narrative techniques.The thesis argues that Englishness can be constructed,and under the influence of narrative techniques,Barnes’ s personal experiences and national memory,the notion of Englishness possesses both uncertain and realistic characteristics.In addition to Introduction and Conclusion,the thesis is comprised of three chapters.The Introduction gives a brief review of Barnes and his works,the research of England,England at home and abroad,the arguement and framework of the thesis.The first chapter mainly analyzes the constructiveness of Englishness in the novel.It explains the possibility of constructing Englishness by analyzing the list,myths,and the declining country “Anglia”in the novel.The second chapter mainly analyzes the uncertainty in constructing Englishness from three aspects: the uncertainty of characters,the uncertainty of narrative time and space,and the uncertainty of the ending.The third chapter discusses the realistic factors in Englishness construction which include the decline of England,nostalgia,and Barnes’ s personal experience.The Conclusion summarizes the previous chapters and holds that Barnes asserts the possibility of Englishness construction through England,England.At the same time,the uncertainty of narrative makes the concept of Englishness uncertain.Realistic factors such as the Barnes’ s personal experience and the nation’s nostalgia have a deep impact on the construction of Englishness.