Aporia, vortex and the hermeneutic circle in A.S. Byatt’s The Biographer’s Tale

Abstract

Reflecting A.S. Byatt’s mistrust of the prevalence of literary theory, expressed in her own critical writings as well as in her earlier, most successful novel Possession (1990), The Biographer’s Tale (2000) recounts a literary scholar’s attempt to reach out towards a world of things, as opposed to arid theoretical concepts. However, his biographical project, undertaken as an alternative to poststructuralist studies, ends in an impasse. This article argues that, compared with the developments in Possession, the protagonist’s “liberation” from academia is far more ambiguous; his failed attempt to write a biography illustrates rather than satirises some of the dilemmas posed by literary theory. Phineas Nanson remains trapped in poststructuralist concepts which wreck his project, such as the elusiveness of the self, textual indeterminacy, and the demise of the author.

Keywords

• a.s. byatt
• academic fiction
• campus novel
• literary theory
• metafiction
• biography