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Deceptive Style of Writing in Ian McEwan’s Atonement

Received: 8 May 2020     Accepted: 22 May 2020     Published: 9 June 2020
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Abstract

Ian McEwan, together with Martin Amis is regarded as the best-known and controversial contemporary British novelist. He has been regarded as a serious, objective writer who is interested in writing about obsessive behavior, sex and moral corruption. When Atonement appeared in 2001, it received widespread praise from the reviewers, especially in respect of its style and narrative structure. This paper is concerned with the deceptive style of McEwan’s Atonement, with the exposure of the narrative as an artifact. The identity of Briony is discussed from two aspects: on the one hand, she is a character who is as real as others. On the other hand, she finally becomes the real author of the novel, revealing the process of the construction of this story. Thus, by giving Briony two identities, the writer deceives the reader into his beautiful lie and awakens them with the same metafictional device, laying bare its nature of artifice. Through the study and analysis, it is safe to conclude that Atonement possesses the main features of metafiction. The application of deceptive writing renders the novel more aesthetic significance and meaning.

Published in English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.13
Page(s) 69-73
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Deceptive Style, Ian McEwan, Atonement

References
[1] Han Jie, “Postmodern Strategies in Ian McEwan’s Major Novels,” Advances in Literary Study, 2014, 2, 134-139.
[2] Peter Childs, The Fiction of Ian McEwan, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, 129.
[3] http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307396785
[4] John Updike, “Flesh on Flesh”, New Yorker (13 March 2002), 80.
[5] Ian McEwan, Atonement. New York: Anchor Books, 2007, p 47, 51, 39, 147, 148, 402, 478.
[6] Zhai Shijing, “The Characteristic of Contemporary Young English Writers’ Works”, Academic Quarterly, 1995, 1, 176.
[7] Earl G. Ingersoll, “Intertextuality in L. P. Hartley’s The Go-Between and Ian McEwan’s Atonement”, Forum for Modern Language Studies, 40: 3, (July 2004): 241-258.
[8] http://www.stthomasu.ca/~hunt/reviews/birthday.htm
[9] Peter Childs, The Fiction of Ian McEwan, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, 136.
[10] http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400025558
[11] Linda Hutcheon, The “Real Word(s)” of Fiction: The French Lieutenant’s Women, English Studies in Canada, (1984), 84.
[12] William Palmer, The Fiction of Jone Fowles: Tradition, Art, and the Loneliness of Selfhood, Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1974, 30.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Han Jie, Zhang Liming. (2020). Deceptive Style of Writing in Ian McEwan’s Atonement. English Language, Literature & Culture, 5(2), 69-73. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.13

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    ACS Style

    Han Jie; Zhang Liming. Deceptive Style of Writing in Ian McEwan’s Atonement. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2020, 5(2), 69-73. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.13

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    AMA Style

    Han Jie, Zhang Liming. Deceptive Style of Writing in Ian McEwan’s Atonement. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2020;5(2):69-73. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.13,
      author = {Han Jie and Zhang Liming},
      title = {Deceptive Style of Writing in Ian McEwan’s Atonement},
      journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
      volume = {5},
      number = {2},
      pages = {69-73},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200502.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20200502.13},
      abstract = {Ian McEwan, together with Martin Amis is regarded as the best-known and controversial contemporary British novelist. He has been regarded as a serious, objective writer who is interested in writing about obsessive behavior, sex and moral corruption. When Atonement appeared in 2001, it received widespread praise from the reviewers, especially in respect of its style and narrative structure. This paper is concerned with the deceptive style of McEwan’s Atonement, with the exposure of the narrative as an artifact. The identity of Briony is discussed from two aspects: on the one hand, she is a character who is as real as others. On the other hand, she finally becomes the real author of the novel, revealing the process of the construction of this story. Thus, by giving Briony two identities, the writer deceives the reader into his beautiful lie and awakens them with the same metafictional device, laying bare its nature of artifice. Through the study and analysis, it is safe to conclude that Atonement possesses the main features of metafiction. The application of deceptive writing renders the novel more aesthetic significance and meaning.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    AB  - Ian McEwan, together with Martin Amis is regarded as the best-known and controversial contemporary British novelist. He has been regarded as a serious, objective writer who is interested in writing about obsessive behavior, sex and moral corruption. When Atonement appeared in 2001, it received widespread praise from the reviewers, especially in respect of its style and narrative structure. This paper is concerned with the deceptive style of McEwan’s Atonement, with the exposure of the narrative as an artifact. The identity of Briony is discussed from two aspects: on the one hand, she is a character who is as real as others. On the other hand, she finally becomes the real author of the novel, revealing the process of the construction of this story. Thus, by giving Briony two identities, the writer deceives the reader into his beautiful lie and awakens them with the same metafictional device, laying bare its nature of artifice. Through the study and analysis, it is safe to conclude that Atonement possesses the main features of metafiction. The application of deceptive writing renders the novel more aesthetic significance and meaning.
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Author Information
  • College of Foreign Language Education and International Business, Baoding University, Baoding, China

  • College of Foreign Language Education and International Business, Baoding University, Baoding, China

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