Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 3. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 29)

Tibor Tóth: Fiction as the 'River Between': Daniel Martin

FICTION AS THE 'RIVER BETWEEN

': DANIEL MARTIN 59 Stage or rather script directions call attention to the alien domain from which Daniel Martin has to escape if he wants to regain the old fashioned freedom and privacy of fiction writing. John Fowles' expertise seems to be aimed at detecting those elements, which can be shared by the two arts and the process by way of which he can render the incompatible elements of film fictionally accessible. John Fowles discussed the difference between film and fiction on several occasions. He denounced the distortion of normal, new-humanist value system of the Hollywood 'image-making' industry in "Gather Ye Starlets."

7 In other non-fictional works John Fowles's interpretation of the loneliness of the novelist in comparison with the 'team-work' existence of scriptwriters, directors, cameramen and actors suggests the author's pride in the difficult task of the novelist and the freedom of any writer of fiction which is a function of his individual talent." John Fowles's attitude towards film industry stems from his respect for a form of art, which gathers great talents, but he is careful to formulate his esteem for the film in the context of knowledge that film is a rival art for traditional fiction. As traditional, representational, or realistic fiction is extremely important for John Fowles, when his novels, short stories and non-fiction are concerned with the relationship between film and fiction awareness of the above rivalry is emphatically formulated. When John Fowles casts his title character in the position of the prodigal son, whose return to the world he earlier betrayed and abandoned becomes a central concern at all the dimensions of the book, he creates the fictional frame for the discussion of the relationship of the two contemporary rival arts as well. Yet, Daniel Martin should not be interpreted in (auto)biographical terms, because its larger context establishes the theoretical interpretation of contemporary fiction's possibilities as a first principle, and thus it becomes consistent with most of John Fowles's work, in that it fictionalises the theoretical aspects which regard the state of fiction. As we have already suggested, in this sense the novel follows the authorial intention stated by his earlier novels. The Collector discusses the 7 Fowles, John. 1965. "Gather Ye Starlets." In Wormholes, 89-99. London: Jonathan Cape, 1999. s Fowles, John. 1981. "The Filming of The French Lieutenant's Woman'' In Wormholes, 34-42. London: Jonathan Cape, 1999.