English Architectural Landscapes and Metonymy in Hollinghurst's The Stranger's Child

Abstract

In his article English Architectural Landscapes and Metonymy in Hollinghurst's The Stranger's Bart Eeckhout analyzes Alan Hollinghurst's novel in light of Hollinghurst's interest in architectural representation. Eeckhout analyzes the novel's principal scenario of architectural change in the course of the twentieth century and postulates that Hollinghurst employs unconventional genre codes and queers the social realist novel, the family saga, and the country house novel. Eeckhout analyzes The Stranger's Child as a comedy of metonymies which impresses upon its readers the structural necessity of diverse perspectives, labyrinthine metonymical constructions, and the dynamics of place. Further, Eeckhout argues that Hollinghurst dramatizes for his readers how desire impels narratives, landscapes, and human interactions alike in ways which afford only passing moments of aesthetic enchantment and provisional insights along the way. Bart Eeckhout, English Architectural Landscapes and Metonymy in Hollinghurst's The Stranger's page 2 of 11 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 14.3 (2012): Thematic Issue New Work on Landscape and Its Narration. Ed. Sofie Verraest, Bart Keunen, and Katrien Bollen