Lawrence’s Hardy and Dyer’s Lawrence: Heritage as Reflexive Self-engagement and Self-authorisation in Fiction and Criticism
Lawrence’s Study of Thomas Hardy and Dyer’s writings on Lawrence are addressed as sites for reflexive critical engagement with the authority of fiction. Each author uses their subject as an occasion for critical self-engagement with their own sense of critical authority, thereby suggesting an intere...
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| Publicado en: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom, |
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| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
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FATHOM
2026
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| Acceso en liña: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:fathom_2899 |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:fathom_2899 https://doi.org/10.4000/16apc urn:doi:10.4000/16apc en https://journals.openedition.org/fathom/2899 2026-05-29T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/16apc https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Lawrence’s Hardy and Dyer’s Lawrence: Heritage as Reflexive Self-engagement and Self-authorisation in Fiction and Criticism FATHOM Association française sur les études sur Thomas Hardy info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2270-6798 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom Filmer, Paul métaphysique critique littéraire patrimoine héritage autorité ontologie réflexivité forme littéraire fiction Lawrence (D. H.) Dyer (Geoff) metaphysics literary criticism heritage legacy authority ontology reflexiveness literary form fiction Lawrence (D. H.) Dyer (Geoff) Lawrence’s Study of Thomas Hardy and Dyer’s writings on Lawrence are addressed as sites for reflexive critical engagement with the authority of fiction. Each author uses their subject as an occasion for critical self-engagement with their own sense of critical authority, thereby suggesting an interesting critical epistemological heritage which Lawrence develops from Hardy and Dyer seeks to consolidate from Lawrence. Lawrence compares Hardy to Sophocles and Shakespeare in setting the sense of morality grasped by human consciousness within the greater, incomprehensible morality of nature, which surpasses it and whose tragic heroes are brought down by challenging it. Hardy is attempting to discharge the novelist’s artistic responsibility to ensure that their metaphysic - the ontology realised through narrative and characterisation in their fiction - subserves the novel’s artistic purpose beyond their intended aim. Yet Hardy’s tragic heroes are brought down by transgressing merely the social code of human government and morality, as if that determined their fate. Dyer sees Lawrence’s analysis of Hardy’s failure in this respect as providing for a looser relation between criticism and fiction and a basis for addressing Lawrence’s continuing literary significance in terms of his non-fictional writing, thereby questioning the contemporary relevance of the novel in favour of other literary forms. Cet article aborde l’étude de Lawrence sur Thomas Hardy (Study of Thomas Hardy) et les écrits de Dyer sur Lawrence comme des lieux d’engagement critique réflexif avec l’autorité de la fiction. Pour chaque auteur, le sujet offre une occasion d’interroger son propre sens de l’autorité critique, révélant ainsi un héritage épistémologique critique développé par Lawrence à partir de Hardy, et consolidé par Dyer en suivant Lawrence. Ce dernier compare Hardy à Sophocle et Shakespeare en situant le sens de la moralité que saisit la conscience humaine dans la moralité supérieure, indéchiffrable, de la nature qui vient renverser les héros tragiques tentant de la défier. Hardy tente de s’acquitter de la responsabilité artistique du romancier qui consiste à s’assurer que sa métaphysique – l’ontologie qui, dans sa fiction, se déploie par le biais du récit et de la caractérisation - serve l’objectif artistique du roman au-delà de son but initial. C’est pourtant seulement la transgression du code social du gouvernement humain et de la moralité qui vient anéantir les héros tragiques de Hardy, comme si cela déterminait leur destin. Pour Dyer, l’analyse de Lawrence sur l’échec de Hardy à cet égard établit une relation plus souple entre la critique et la fiction, et permet d’aborder l’héritage littéraire de Lawrence en termes d’écriture non fictionnelle, remettant ainsi en question la pertinence contemporaine du roman au profit d'autres formes littéraires. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
métaphysique critique littéraire patrimoine héritage autorité ontologie réflexivité forme littéraire fiction Lawrence (D. H.) Dyer (Geoff) metaphysics literary criticism heritage legacy authority ontology reflexiveness literary form fiction Lawrence (D. H.) Dyer (Geoff) |
| spellingShingle |
métaphysique critique littéraire patrimoine héritage autorité ontologie réflexivité forme littéraire fiction Lawrence (D. H.) Dyer (Geoff) metaphysics literary criticism heritage legacy authority ontology reflexiveness literary form fiction Lawrence (D. H.) Dyer (Geoff) Filmer, Paul Lawrence’s Hardy and Dyer’s Lawrence: Heritage as Reflexive Self-engagement and Self-authorisation in Fiction and Criticism |
| description |
Lawrence’s Study of Thomas Hardy and Dyer’s writings on Lawrence are addressed as sites for reflexive critical engagement with the authority of fiction. Each author uses their subject as an occasion for critical self-engagement with their own sense of critical authority, thereby suggesting an interesting critical epistemological heritage which Lawrence develops from Hardy and Dyer seeks to consolidate from Lawrence. Lawrence compares Hardy to Sophocles and Shakespeare in setting the sense of morality grasped by human consciousness within the greater, incomprehensible morality of nature, which surpasses it and whose tragic heroes are brought down by challenging it. Hardy is attempting to discharge the novelist’s artistic responsibility to ensure that their metaphysic - the ontology realised through narrative and characterisation in their fiction - subserves the novel’s artistic purpose beyond their intended aim. Yet Hardy’s tragic heroes are brought down by transgressing merely the social code of human government and morality, as if that determined their fate. Dyer sees Lawrence’s analysis of Hardy’s failure in this respect as providing for a looser relation between criticism and fiction and a basis for addressing Lawrence’s continuing literary significance in terms of his non-fictional writing, thereby questioning the contemporary relevance of the novel in favour of other literary forms. |
| author |
Filmer, Paul |
| author_facet |
Filmer, Paul |
| author_sort |
Filmer, Paul |
| title |
Lawrence’s Hardy and Dyer’s Lawrence: Heritage as Reflexive Self-engagement and Self-authorisation in Fiction and Criticism |
| title_short |
Lawrence’s Hardy and Dyer’s Lawrence: Heritage as Reflexive Self-engagement and Self-authorisation in Fiction and Criticism |
| title_full |
Lawrence’s Hardy and Dyer’s Lawrence: Heritage as Reflexive Self-engagement and Self-authorisation in Fiction and Criticism |
| title_fullStr |
Lawrence’s Hardy and Dyer’s Lawrence: Heritage as Reflexive Self-engagement and Self-authorisation in Fiction and Criticism |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Lawrence’s Hardy and Dyer’s Lawrence: Heritage as Reflexive Self-engagement and Self-authorisation in Fiction and Criticism |
| title_sort |
lawrence’s hardy and dyer’s lawrence: heritage as reflexive self-engagement and self-authorisation in fiction and criticism |
| publisher |
FATHOM |
| publishDate |
2026 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/fathom |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/16apc https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/fathom/2899 |
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1877291688563572736 |