Discursive Intertextuality, Parody, and Mise en Abyme in A.S. Byatt’s Short Stories

This essay analyses three short stories from A.S. Byatt's collection Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice (1998) in light of several self-reflexive strategies. The short narratives Crocodile Tears and Baglady will be discussed from the perspective of "discursive intertextuality," a...

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Autor principal: PIERINI, Francesca
Formato: Tesis
Lenguaje:inglés
Publicado: AUW 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://repository.auw.edu.bd/handle/123456789/588
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author PIERINI, Francesca
author_facet PIERINI, Francesca
author_sort PIERINI, Francesca
collection institutional Repository
description This essay analyses three short stories from A.S. Byatt's collection Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice (1998) in light of several self-reflexive strategies. The short narratives Crocodile Tears and Baglady will be discussed from the perspective of "discursive intertextuality," a literary practice that foregrounds a discursive element established and detectable across genres. Christ in the House of Martha and Mary will be examined from the standpoint of intertextuality and mise en abyme. Once again, the study of this narrative will hinge on the discursive aspects of mise en abyme as a meta-generic approach put in place not to indefinitely reiterate "the same" concept, but to show the potentially endless possibilities of interpretation a text may offer its readers. Across these short stories, the opposition between fire and ice gets reworked in corresponding dichotomous sets: North vs. South, West vs. Orient, contemplative vs. active life. The specific goal this article sets itself to achieve is to show the contrasting trajectories at play in these short stories. Dense with contrasting and intersecting meta-generic paths, such narratives perform and make visible a double register of devotion/affection and questioning/deconstruction of genre norms in relation to established Anglophone discursive tropes.
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spelling 123456789-5882026-02-18T06:15:03Z Discursive Intertextuality, Parody, and Mise en Abyme in A.S. Byatt’s Short Stories PIERINI, Francesca A.S. Byatt; Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice; metagenre; discursive intertextuality; mise en abyme This essay analyses three short stories from A.S. Byatt's collection Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice (1998) in light of several self-reflexive strategies. The short narratives Crocodile Tears and Baglady will be discussed from the perspective of "discursive intertextuality," a literary practice that foregrounds a discursive element established and detectable across genres. Christ in the House of Martha and Mary will be examined from the standpoint of intertextuality and mise en abyme. Once again, the study of this narrative will hinge on the discursive aspects of mise en abyme as a meta-generic approach put in place not to indefinitely reiterate "the same" concept, but to show the potentially endless possibilities of interpretation a text may offer its readers. Across these short stories, the opposition between fire and ice gets reworked in corresponding dichotomous sets: North vs. South, West vs. Orient, contemplative vs. active life. The specific goal this article sets itself to achieve is to show the contrasting trajectories at play in these short stories. Dense with contrasting and intersecting meta-generic paths, such narratives perform and make visible a double register of devotion/affection and questioning/deconstruction of genre norms in relation to established Anglophone discursive tropes. 2025-07-20T07:29:21Z 2025-07-20T07:29:21Z 2022 Thesis https://repository.auw.edu.bd/handle/123456789/588 en application/pdf AUW
spellingShingle A.S. Byatt; Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice; metagenre; discursive intertextuality; mise en abyme
PIERINI, Francesca
Discursive Intertextuality, Parody, and Mise en Abyme in A.S. Byatt’s Short Stories
title Discursive Intertextuality, Parody, and Mise en Abyme in A.S. Byatt’s Short Stories
title_full Discursive Intertextuality, Parody, and Mise en Abyme in A.S. Byatt’s Short Stories
title_fullStr Discursive Intertextuality, Parody, and Mise en Abyme in A.S. Byatt’s Short Stories
title_full_unstemmed Discursive Intertextuality, Parody, and Mise en Abyme in A.S. Byatt’s Short Stories
title_short Discursive Intertextuality, Parody, and Mise en Abyme in A.S. Byatt’s Short Stories
title_sort discursive intertextuality parody and mise en abyme in a s byatt s short stories
topic A.S. Byatt; Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice; metagenre; discursive intertextuality; mise en abyme
url https://repository.auw.edu.bd/handle/123456789/588
work_keys_str_mv AT pierinifrancesca discursiveintertextualityparodyandmiseenabymeinasbyattsshortstories