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Can a novel cause riots, start a war, free serfs or slaves, break up marriages, drive readers to suicide, close factories, bring about law change, swing an election, or serve as a weapon in a national or international struggle? The author explores this question in the form of a theoretical essay on narrative and power, followed by five detailed case studies of works by Turgenev, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ignazio Silone, Solzhenitsyn and Salman Rushdie, each of which had or was said to have had a major impact on the political events in its time. Forcefully argued and written with a minimum of jargon, this book no doubt appeals to a wide readership well beyond that of the specialist in literature.
CHOICE OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC BOOK OF THE YEAR 1995
"... a spirited, well-researched volume ... this highly readable study is an impressive work ofcontemporary criticism, richly deserving of its intended general and academic audiences." · Choice
Michael Hanne is Senior Lecturer in Italian at the University of Auckland, New Zealand
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1. Narrative and Power
Chapter 2. Ivan Turgenev: A Sportsman's Notebook (1852)
Chapter 3. Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)
Chapter 4. Ignazio Silone: Fontamara (1933)
Chapter 5. Alexander Solzhenitsyn: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962)
Chapter 6. Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses (1988)
Chapter 7. Metaphors of Narrative Power: A Concluding Note
Bibliography
Index