Abstract
The paper presents an analysis of the novel Grendel (1971) by American writer J. Gardner (1933–1982) in light of M. Eliade’s, R. Girard’s and V. Toporov’s concepts of myth and ritual studies. Literary studies concerning the ritual-mythological aspect of the novel are reviewed in the article. The research hypothesis suggests that the key features of Gardner’s poetics can be systematically analyzed in the context of myth and ritual. Meanwhile, the bulk of previous research covering the issue tended to rely primarily on other analytical frameworks, like P. Bourdieu's sociology of literature (B. Ekelund) or the theory of intertextuality (H. Ellis, W. Ober), the myth and ritual theory playing a supplementary role. While placing myth and ritual theory at the core of the methodology, the present study highlights its two key categories singled out in line with B. Malinowski’s “functionalist” view of myth and ritual as two complementary aspects of the archaic culture — the “theoretical” one (myth) and the “practical” one (ritual). Here they are presented as the etyological nature of myth (i.e. its ability to view all phenomena as dependent on the primordial origin of the universe) and the redemptive sacrificial ritual. Accordingly, the etyologization of Grendel’s narrative and the presentation of the protagonist as an “emissary victim” (in Girard’s terms) are the specific features of Gardner’s poetics which the paper primarily addresses.
Highlights
The paper presents an analysis of the novel Grendel (1971) by American writer J
Literary studies concerning the ritual-mythological aspect of the novel are reviewed in the article
Malinowski’s “functionalist” view of myth and ritual as two complementary aspects of the archaic culture — the “theoretical” one and the “practical” one. They are presented as the etyological nature of myth and the redemptive sacrificial ritual
Summary
Gardner’s Novel Grendel: an Analysis of the Novel’s Poetics in Light of Ritual-Mythological Criticism.” Literature of the Americas, no. Роман писателя и филолога Джона Гарднера (1933 –1982) «Грендель» (Grendel, 1971) еще при жизни автора стал материалом для исследования в духе ритуально-мифологической критики. Тем не менее нельзя сказать, что исследователи исчерпали всю проблематику, которую можно обнаружить при использовании ритуально-мифологического концептуального аппарата для анализа романа Гарднера.
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