Revisiting the Genre Problem of Mary Barton: How to Read “Mary Barton” as Paratextual Name
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This paper argues that “Mary Barton” as a book title has taken center stage in the long-standing debates over the genre of the novel. As the novel seems to consist of two separate plots, it has often been criticized for its structural flaws or lack of organic unity. To make a critical intervention into this matter, this essay reads the title name “Mary Barton” as an important paratextual name lying between the text and the public. First, it will explore how the novel’s full title framed the text and influenced readers. Second, it will analyze Elizabeth Gaskell’s letters as they provide important epitexts that shed new light on the title-change of the novel. I ultimately show that the proper name “Mary Barton,” as a primary title, played a crucial role in determining the generic boundaries of the novel. While the proper name “Mary Barton” in the title indicates its genre as Bildungsroman, the secondary title “A Tale of Manchester Life” redefines the heroine as a public figure surrounded by the industrial environment, thus forming a mixed genre of “industrial Bildungsroman” in its paratextual effects on readers. In the process, the title name “Mary Barton” played a significant role in determining the generic boundaries of the novel. Not only did it engage in defining the subject matter of the novel as a signifier for the text, it was also circulated in the literary market as a short name for the book Mary Barton.
Abstract
This paper argues that “Mary Barton” as a book title has taken center stage in the long-standing debates over the genre of the novel. As the novel seems to consist of two separate plots, it has often been criticized for its structural flaws or lack of organic unity. To make a critical intervention into this matter, this essay reads the title name “Mary Barton” as an important paratextual name lying between the text and the public. First, it will explore how the novel’s full title framed the text and influenced readers. Second, it will analyze Elizabeth Gaskell’s letters as they provide important epitexts that shed new light on the title-change of the novel. I ultimately show that the proper name “Mary Barton,” as a primary title, played a crucial role in determining the generic boundaries of the novel. While the proper name “Mary Barton” in the title indicates its genre as Bildungsroman, the secondary title “A Tale of Manchester Life” redefines the heroine as a public figure surrounded by the industrial environment, thus forming a mixed genre of “industrial Bildungsroman” in its paratextual effects on readers. In the process, the title name “Mary Barton” played a significant role in determining the generic boundaries of the novel. Not only did it engage in defining the subject matter of the novel as a signifier for the text, it was also circulated in the literary market as a short name for the book Mary Barton.
참고문헌 (15)
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- Wyke, Terry, "Authenticating the Text: A footnote in Mary Barton", Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, 80(1), pp.103~123 (1998)