9/ 11 and the Recalibration of Couple (on Joseph O'Neill's ”Netherland”)
9/ 11 and the Recalibration of Couple (on Joseph O'Neill 's ”Netherland”)
Author(s): Ioana CistelecanSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Comparative Study of Literature
Published by: Editura Universitatii din Oradea
Keywords: 9/11; trauma; past; Netherland-novel; couple life under trauma; contemporary fiction;
Summary/Abstract: The first-person narration that articulates Joseph O'Neill’s Netherland simply qualifies as an "aftermath", as a "purposeful postmortem" which most definitely discloses the very impossibilities of remembering and forgetting the past. In an attempt to hold the "grassy past" in check, the "second mowing" encourages its regrowth; "memory’s repetitive mower" generates the past precisely and paradoxically enough by continuously trying to hold it back. "It is truly a terrible thing when questions of love and family and home are no longer answerable"– Hans says. This new world intrudes on even the most inward-looking relationships. Rachel sees and mostly acknowledges this; Hans does not.
Journal: Analele Universităţii din Oradea Fascicula Limba si Literatura Română (ALLRO)
- Issue Year: 27/2020
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 234-239
- Page Count: 6
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF