The Literature Book

CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

THE AESTHETICS

OF RESISTANCE

(1975–1981), PETER WEISS

A three-volume historical novel

dealing with the fight against the

Nazis by left-wing students in Berlin,

as well as charting antifascist

movements elsewhere in Europe,

The Aesthetics of Resistance

proposes that the model for political

resistance is to be found in the

stand taken by the artist. The title

of this highly acclaimed work refers

to its meditations on painting,

sculpture, and literature. Its author

Weiss (1916–82), German-born but

with Swedish nationality, was also

a dramatist, painter, and filmmaker.

ROOTS

(1976), ALEX HALEY

Beginning in the 18th century with

the semifictional story of a teenage

African boy who is kidnapped and

sold into slavery in the American

South, Roots traces the lives of the

next six generations, culminating

with American writer Haley (1921–

92), who undertook a decade of

extensive research into his own

ancestry. A major theme is the

triumph of the human spirit over

oppression. The book, and the

television miniseries based upon it,

led to a surge of interest in African-

American history and genealogy.

LIFE A USER’S MANUAL

(1978), GEORGES PEREC

Focusing on the inhabitants of a

Paris apartment building, Life A

User’s Manual, by Frenchman Perec

(1936–82) is a fictional web whose

main thread is a resident’s project

to paint 500 watercolors of the

places he visits, have them turned

into jigsaws that he must solve on

his return to Paris, before returning

each image to the place it depicts.

His art teacher—a fellow resident—

plans to paint the lives of all the

tenants. Perec was a member of

the Oulipo group, who together

practiced writing under a set of

constraining principles, and was

fascinated by literary playfulness.

THE BLOODY CHAMBER

AND OTHER STORIES

(1979), ANGELA CARTER

Author of “magical realist” tales,

Angela Carter based all ten stories

in her influential work The Bloody

Chamber and Other Stories on

folktales, including Little Red Riding

Hood, Beauty and the Beast, and

Puss in Boots. The psychological

themes underlying the original

narratives are intensified and

modernized, although without any

loss of their inherent gothic folklore

atmosphere. Rape, incest, murder,

torture, and cannibalism all feature,

showing the dark side of humanity.

Stereotypes of feminity, including

the innocence of girlhood and the

notion of a happy marriage, are

each subversively reinterpreted.

Metamorphosis plays a significant

part in these stories, both in the

form of magic (such as men turned

into wolves), and also in physical

and moral transformations—for

instance, with reference to

menstruation and deception.

A DRY WHITE SEASON

(1979), ANDRÉ BRINK

The underlying metaphor of A Dry

White Season is the equation of

climatic and moral drought. This

acclaimed novel is set in Afrikaner

South Africa just before the political

changes took place that overturned

apartheid and brought renewal to

333

Angela Carter

Known for fiction that fused

feminism and magical realism,

Angela Carter was born in

1940, in Eastbourne, England,

and studied English at Bristol

University. In 1969 she left her

husband and spent two years

in Tokyo, where she claims

to have learned her feminist

principles. She was writer

in residence in the 1970s and

’80s at various UK universities,

and also taught in the US and

Australia. Her Nights at the

Circus was a joint winner of

the James Tait Black Memorial

Prize in 1984. Carter was also

a journalist and worked in

radio and the movies. She died

in 1992 in London at 51.

Key works

1967 The Magic Toyshop

1979 The Bloody Chamber and

Other Stories (see left, below)

1984 Nights at the Circus

Through this flesh,

which is us, we are you,

and you are us!

Roots

Alex Haley

US_332-339_FR_CH7.indd 333 08/10/2015 13:11