Beyond Postmodern Irony: Empathetic Storytelling in Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black

Abstract

The contemporary age, which has impacted the world and its inhabitants with a sense of anxiety and uncertainty, stemming from economic, political, global, and environmental events, has woven its effects into diverse scopes of life. In the late 20th century, the challenges facing the modern world intensified and peaked in the subsequent century due to events such as the 9/11 attacks, the 2008 global financial crisis, conflicts leading to refugee crises in regions like the Middle East, and environmental disasters like Chernobyl (1986) and Fukushima Daiichi (2011). Additionally, incidents such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill (1989), the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010), and the issue of global warming have further contributed to this heightened sense of risk and uncertainty, impacting both nations and individuals alike. Beside these various scopes of life, literature has also been impacted by the transformation of the world. The impact on literature has been particularly pronounced with embracing a sincere one on behalf of the author by abandoning the excessive irony and carefree attitude of postmodernism, signalling a transformation beyond the conventional realms of postmodernism. As Nicholas Stavris states in Supplanting the Postmodern (2015), “faced with a contemporary culture of anxiety, artists attempt to overcome the uncertainties of the human condition in the twenty-first century by reaching out for a renewed period of sincerity. Authenticity is the new focus for the present day artist” (p. 407). Similarly, in The Post-war Novel and the Death of the Author (2020) Arya Aryan remarks this positive change in literature by noting that a “new concept of authorship emerges in this more globalised and fragile new risk therapy culture for it produces pressures on novelists not only to embrace the New Sincerity but to return to the old eighteenth-century ideals of the novelist as a purveyor of moral sentiment within the new version of liberal economics” (p. 179). Hence, the change in the attitude of authors has led to the emergence of many new theories, which critique the excessive irony, detachment, and scepticism that characterize postmodern culture. Contemporary literature advocates for a return to sincerity, authenticity, and earnestness in literature by prioritising genuine emotion, connection and empathy. By examining the implications of this shift, this article explores Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black (2005) within the context of metamodernism, aiming to reveal the discernible shift away from the detached irony of postmodernism towards a literary landscape that values sincerity and empathy. Through a detailed exploration of Mantel’s narrative choices, this analysis aims to uncover how the author places empathy at the forefront of storytelling. This article contends that Mantel’s work exemplifies a crucial transition in contemporary literature, highlighting the integral role of empathy in weaving one's life into the narrative fabric to overcome the challenges of the contemporary age, thereby portraying contemporary authors as more responsible and engaged in shaping the literary experience, bridging the gap between sincerity and irony.