Time on Our Hands in Ali Smith’s Summer

Abstract

During the pandemic, we have all renegotiated the time on our hands, regardless of circumstance. Many found themselves struggling to balance new schedules as schools shut; others were thrown into the white space of empty diaries, devoid of social and work commitments. This shift in our relationship to time is the central concern of Ali Smith’s pandemic novel, Summer, the final instalment of her seasonal quartet. Smith’s series has always been preoccupied with time; it utilises a radically shortened publication process, and this allows the quartet to remain open to the present, attaining a unique sense of urgency. By condensing the production time of this quartet, Smith has created truly ambient literature; literature that holds the reader in their own socio-historical moment by responding to and reflecting on the most significant events of British contemporary history.