Abstract
Political conflicts have historically affected the relationships of nations. Ian McEwan’s The Innocent is an excellent example of a story set within the web of such a conflict—the Cold War—that was brought about by U.S. and Soviet confrontation over spheres of influence after the Second World War. This article aims to show how Ian McEwan pictures Americanization as a form of cultural politics aimed at spreading American influence throughout the occupied countries such as Germany for political domination. Max Weber’s theory of political power along with semiotics as a tool is the framework of the article. Signs that refer to the Americanization process, including inferences in the dialogues, gestures, choice of food, and even clothing, are scrutinized and interpreted within the socio-political context the of Cold War. The analysis of The Innocent provides an example of the ways in which fiction represents political conflicts permeating personal and intimate relationships, and how such conflicts may result in a sense of mistrust and intrigue among both people and nations.
Highlights
Ian McEwan’s The Innocent was written in 1990, at about the same time the Berlin Wall was coming down, a symbolic representation of the end of the Cold War. This novel, set against the post-war backdrop of Cold-War politics and the uncertainties of a vanquished Germany attempting to rebuild lives after the war, presents the consequences of political, social, and economic turbulence on personal lives and relationships; a time when the way people dealt with the past seemed almost as important as how they were going to deal with the future
Weber’s theory of power along with semiotics as an interpretative approach for this study demonstrates the unusual aspects of influence and domination that are maintained symbolically
Such an approach enriches our knowledge of how novels can embody and represent the social and political climate of the era in which they are written
Summary
Ian McEwan’s The Innocent was written in 1990, at about the same time the Berlin Wall was coming down, a symbolic representation of the end of the Cold War. He sets out his theory of social stratification in relation to economic and political orders He explains the meaning of power as follows: “In general we understand by ‘power’ the chance of a man or of a number of men to realize their own will in a communal action even against the resistance of others who are participating in the action” Weber continues by explaining diverse ways of distributing power in any society He starts by referring to the use of direct violence, or by using more “subtle means,” by which he means employing money as a social influence; aspects such as “the force of speech, suggestion, clumsy hoax, and so on.”. This will provide an additional perspective on the interrelationship between the macrocosm (society) and the microcosm (individuals)
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