POWER RELATIONS: THE DIALOG BETWEEN LITERARY AND CULTURAL STUDIES AS INTERPRETATIVE FRAMEWORK
POWER RELATIONS: THE DIALOG BETWEEN LITERARY AND CULTURAL STUDIES AS INTERPRETATIVE FRAMEWORK

Summary/Abstract: This article aims at fashioning a suitable theoretical framework combining useful paths from literary and cultural studies. This critical landscape encompasses the dynamics of power relations which contemporary fiction is bound to engage with. This undertaking also makes use of the lens of the socio-cultural and historical premises involved in the production of the literary texts. The question arises whether fictional works should be deciphered according to the socio-cultural codes encrypted in the power games between various characters or settings or whether they should be viewed mainly as expressions of pure aesthetic bliss. As more than a mirror image of the contemporary world, contemporary novels frequently display and challenge views of the world, ideologies and theories, as well as social or moral conflicts. Key sensitive issues having to do with violence, abuse, trauma, identity trouble, war, political games or gender inequality are among the most exploited by contemporary writers and are relevant for the idea that power plays a major role in the dynamics of a society.

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