The life of Dmitri Shostakovich, a Soviet composer and Russian intellectual who was censored under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, features in many bio-works. Julian Barnes’s The Noise of Time is a reconstruction of the well-known composer’s life story, and it confronts the readers with the deconstruction of biographical conventions. In the novel, Barnes uses biographical and fictional techniques in portraying a person’s life to reflect on the relationship between art and history, artist and power, and shows that historical truth is t reconstituted, reordered, or reconstructed in a selective way. This article is focused on the narrative modes and re-presentation of the historical subject in The Noise of Time. By emphasizing formal features and their impact upon perception and interpretation of history, this analysis considers the genre of biofiction as a narrative for achieving a sense of “poetic truth” of Shostakovich’s time. By relating history with the theory of neo-historical biofiction, Barnes reminds us that history might have been concealed in totalitarian society but could also be restored among the many stories by and about the individual—to connect the histories with his stories. Thus, we should regard The Noise of Time as an amphibious art form, which ideally has both to obey the constraints of evidence and to respond creatively to the challenge of making literary form and meaning.
| Published in | English Language, Literature & Culture (Volume 5, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.15 |
| Page(s) | 107-111 |
| 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 |
Julian Barnes, The Noise of Time, Narrative, Biofiction
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| [2] | Jeremy, Denk (2016). "The Noise of Time, by Julian BarnesBook Review". The New York Times., (5): 9. |
| [3] | Cohn, Dorrit. The Distinction of Fiction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, 26-35. |
| [4] | White, H. “The historical text as literary artifact” of R. Geoffrey The History and Narrative Reader. London: Routledge (2001): 221-236. |
| [5] | Middeke, M. & H. Werner. Biofictions: The Rewriting of Romantic Lives in Contemporary Fiction and Drama. New York: Camden House, 1999. |
| [6] | Volkov, Solomon. Testimony: The Memoirs of Dmitri Shostakovich: As Related to and Edited by Solomon Volkov. London: Faber and Faber, 1979, 48. |
| [7] | Barnes, Julian. The Noise of Time. London: Jonathan Cape, 2016, vii, 15, 23, 63, 80, 123-135, 165-184. |
| [8] | Nikil, Saval. (2016). Julian Barnes and the Shostakovich Wars. The New Yorker, (5): 26-28. |
| [9] | Pateman, Matthew. Julian Barnes. Tavistock: Northcote House, 2002. |
| [10] | Childs, Peter. Julian Barnes. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011. |
| [11] | Lasdun, James. (2016). How Shostakovich Survived Stalin. The Guardian, (1): 9-11. |
| [12] | Michael H. M. Ng. "Is Julian Barnes Reliable in Narrating the Noise of Time?” English Language and Literature Studies, Vol. 9, No. 1: 2019. |
| [13] | Herman, David. Basic Elements of Narrative. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell 2009. |
| [14] | Kristeva. Julia. Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art. New York: UP of Columbia, 1980. |
| [15] | White, Hayden. The content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987. |
APA Style
Li Jin. (2020). The Noise of Time: Shostakovich in Biofiction. English Language, Literature & Culture, 5(3), 107-111. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.15
ACS Style
Li Jin. The Noise of Time: Shostakovich in Biofiction. Engl. Lang. Lit. Cult. 2020, 5(3), 107-111. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.15
AMA Style
Li Jin. The Noise of Time: Shostakovich in Biofiction. Engl Lang Lit Cult. 2020;5(3):107-111. doi: 10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.15
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.15,
author = {Li Jin},
title = {The Noise of Time: Shostakovich in Biofiction},
journal = {English Language, Literature & Culture},
volume = {5},
number = {3},
pages = {107-111},
doi = {10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.15},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.15},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ellc.20200503.15},
abstract = {The life of Dmitri Shostakovich, a Soviet composer and Russian intellectual who was censored under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, features in many bio-works. Julian Barnes’s The Noise of Time is a reconstruction of the well-known composer’s life story, and it confronts the readers with the deconstruction of biographical conventions. In the novel, Barnes uses biographical and fictional techniques in portraying a person’s life to reflect on the relationship between art and history, artist and power, and shows that historical truth is t reconstituted, reordered, or reconstructed in a selective way. This article is focused on the narrative modes and re-presentation of the historical subject in The Noise of Time. By emphasizing formal features and their impact upon perception and interpretation of history, this analysis considers the genre of biofiction as a narrative for achieving a sense of “poetic truth” of Shostakovich’s time. By relating history with the theory of neo-historical biofiction, Barnes reminds us that history might have been concealed in totalitarian society but could also be restored among the many stories by and about the individual—to connect the histories with his stories. Thus, we should regard The Noise of Time as an amphibious art form, which ideally has both to obey the constraints of evidence and to respond creatively to the challenge of making literary form and meaning.},
year = {2020}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Noise of Time: Shostakovich in Biofiction AU - Li Jin Y1 - 2020/09/21 PY - 2020 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.15 DO - 10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.15 T2 - English Language, Literature & Culture JF - English Language, Literature & Culture JO - English Language, Literature & Culture SP - 107 EP - 111 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-2413 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ellc.20200503.15 AB - The life of Dmitri Shostakovich, a Soviet composer and Russian intellectual who was censored under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, features in many bio-works. Julian Barnes’s The Noise of Time is a reconstruction of the well-known composer’s life story, and it confronts the readers with the deconstruction of biographical conventions. In the novel, Barnes uses biographical and fictional techniques in portraying a person’s life to reflect on the relationship between art and history, artist and power, and shows that historical truth is t reconstituted, reordered, or reconstructed in a selective way. This article is focused on the narrative modes and re-presentation of the historical subject in The Noise of Time. By emphasizing formal features and their impact upon perception and interpretation of history, this analysis considers the genre of biofiction as a narrative for achieving a sense of “poetic truth” of Shostakovich’s time. By relating history with the theory of neo-historical biofiction, Barnes reminds us that history might have been concealed in totalitarian society but could also be restored among the many stories by and about the individual—to connect the histories with his stories. Thus, we should regard The Noise of Time as an amphibious art form, which ideally has both to obey the constraints of evidence and to respond creatively to the challenge of making literary form and meaning. VL - 5 IS - 3 ER -
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