4 The Clockwork Testament, or Enderby’s End (1974) and New York (1976)
-
Christopher W. Thurley
Abstract
This chapter considers Burgess’s presentation of New York City in The Clockwork Testament (1974). Burgess lived in and around New York City for two years in the early 1970s and was later commissioned to write a non-fiction book, New York (1976), on the city. The aim of this chapter is to provide an analysis of The Clockwork Testament, extending the arguments from the previous chapter, namely that the two final Enderby novellas are aberrations in Burgess’s overall canon that are heavily biographical and cathartic. Utilizing Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories from Discourse in the Novel, Burgess’s extra-literary use of language in New York and various journalism is juxtaposed to what occurs in The Clockwork Testament. In addition to issues such as race being analysed, analyses of Burgess’s literary and non-fictional comments on matters of American higher education, being a writer among scholars, and fame in the American context are discussed so as to contextualize the historiography of the text and account for the discursive heteroglossia that is shown to occur among the text, author, and historical record.
Abstract
This chapter considers Burgess’s presentation of New York City in The Clockwork Testament (1974). Burgess lived in and around New York City for two years in the early 1970s and was later commissioned to write a non-fiction book, New York (1976), on the city. The aim of this chapter is to provide an analysis of The Clockwork Testament, extending the arguments from the previous chapter, namely that the two final Enderby novellas are aberrations in Burgess’s overall canon that are heavily biographical and cathartic. Utilizing Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories from Discourse in the Novel, Burgess’s extra-literary use of language in New York and various journalism is juxtaposed to what occurs in The Clockwork Testament. In addition to issues such as race being analysed, analyses of Burgess’s literary and non-fictional comments on matters of American higher education, being a writer among scholars, and fame in the American context are discussed so as to contextualize the historiography of the text and account for the discursive heteroglossia that is shown to occur among the text, author, and historical record.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of illustrations vi
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- 1 On his mind (1956–66) 21
- 2 Burgess on the United States 47
- 3 M/F (1971) 94
- 4 The Clockwork Testament, or Enderby’s End (1974) and New York (1976) 158
- 5 Earthly Powers (1980) 240
- 6 The End of the World News (1982) 266
- 7 Enderby’s Dark Lady, or No End to Enderby (1984) 284
- 8 After America 337
- Conclusion 345
- Index 356
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of illustrations vi
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- 1 On his mind (1956–66) 21
- 2 Burgess on the United States 47
- 3 M/F (1971) 94
- 4 The Clockwork Testament, or Enderby’s End (1974) and New York (1976) 158
- 5 Earthly Powers (1980) 240
- 6 The End of the World News (1982) 266
- 7 Enderby’s Dark Lady, or No End to Enderby (1984) 284
- 8 After America 337
- Conclusion 345
- Index 356
