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
60 TIBOR TÓT! I possibility of fictionalising the dual narrative in essentially realistic mode and yet avoids similarity with the inarticulate material created by some fifties and sixties fiction. Aspects of life and art relationship are relevant, impenetrable mysteries for the collector who is a monster created by the process of dehumanisation which dominates the fifties. The Magus demonstrates that the death of the novel, formulated by one of the main characters of the novel is a false fictional possibility. Maurice Conchis's insistence on artistic possibilities other than fictional are articulated within the frames of traditional narrative. In that novel the result is that that fiction benefits from the contribution of the technical and artistic possibilities offered up by the 'masks,' or the relevant literary and artistic echoes employed to justify and articulate the 'lessons' formulated by the dramatic episodes. Mechanical 'art' is condemned in The Collector , where it is mainly associated with killing, and perverse dehumanisation. Maurice Conchispromises June and Julie roles in a film which is never completed, and the films that are actually produced in that novel produced are porno material. Daniel Martin starts from the description of the harvest scene, which turns horrible through its imagery. The chapter forces the reader to accept that he or she is ignorant about the nature of the memories, which were revealed by the author. The text of the chapter becomes difficult to interpret and authorial support is refused to the reader. "Did 'ee see 'un, m'? Did 'ee see 'un, Miz Martin? Us-all coulda touched'un, coulden us, Danny?" could be the more intelligible variant of James Joyce's song introducing Stephen Dedalus's story, but as the image of the bombers and of the animals being massacred predicted the 'pastoral' dimension lost its meaning as idyllic or peaceful. The presentation of the scene is impersonal to the extent that it could be charged as cruel. We jump in time through a short 'Later.' The scene, which openly recalls Hardy, ends, when the young protagonist says goodbye to his boyhood. Adieu, my boyhood and my dream. Close shot. D.H.M. And underneath: 21 Aug 42. (D. M. 16)
