Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast Novels: a Baroque Hostility to Straight Lines
Can Peake’s Gormenghast novels be termed baroque? This paper suggests the beginnings of an answer by examining one aspect which is usually considered a distinguishing feature of baroque art, namely, its marked preference for curves, broken lines, spirals or arabesques over straight lines. Peake’s ba...
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| Julkaisussa: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/ebc, |
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| Päätekijä: | |
| Aineistotyyppi: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Kieli: | Anglais |
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Études britanniques contemporaines
2024
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| Linkit: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Yhteenveto: | Can Peake’s Gormenghast novels be termed baroque? This paper suggests the beginnings of an answer by examining one aspect which is usually considered a distinguishing feature of baroque art, namely, its marked preference for curves, broken lines, spirals or arabesques over straight lines. Peake’s baroque resistance to the constraint of linearity is evidenced by two different types of ‘deviations’: the numerous peripheral episodes or subsidiary diegetic strands and the countless lavish descriptions, both elements throwing into relief Peake’s baroque urge to show all. A close examination of these deviations leads to more general reflections on the opposition fixity/fluidity in the novels, the stress being laid on the metamorphic quality of the gigantic imaginative world created by Peake. |
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