“Cancel, yes, cancel, and begin again”: John Banville’s Path from ‘Einstein” to Mefisto

Autori

  • Kersti Tarien Powell University in Philadelphia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37389/abei.v22i1.3853

Parole chiave:

Mefisto, literary manuscripts, Literary manuscripts, Narrative voice, Albert Einstein, Science and Literature

Abstract

Focusing on unpublished manuscript materials, this article is the first scholarly attempt to investigate the textual and thematic evolution of John Banville’s Mefisto (1986). As originally conceived, Mefisto would loosely follow Albert Einstein’s life story in order to investigate the moral and political undercurrents of 20th-century European weltanchauung. However, the novel’s five-year-long composition process culminates with the eradication of these historical, moral and scientific concerns. Mefisto is finally born when Banville establishes Gabriel Swan’s narrative voice. As this article argues, this novel constitutes a turning point not only for the science tetralogy but for Banville’s literary career.

Biografia autore

  • Kersti Tarien Powell, University in Philadelphia
    Kersti Tarien Powell is an Assistant Professor of English at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. She has written extensively on contemporary Irish authors, especially John Banville. Her articles on Banville have appeared in the Irish University Review, Éire–Ireland, Texas Studies in Literature and Language, and the Yearbook of English Studies. Her latest project was a 10,000-word overview article on Banville commissioned for the Dictionary of Literary Biography: Twenty-first Century Irish Fiction Writers (forthcoming in 2019).

Riferimenti bibliografici

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---. ‘Gemini,’ MS Draft, 10252/8/7. John Banville collection. Trinity College Library in Dublin.

---. ‘Version III,’ TS Draft, 10252/8/3. John Banville collection. Trinity College Library in Dublin.

---. Mefisto. 1986. London: Minerva, 1993.

Bernstein, Jeremy. Einstein. Suffolk: Fontana/Collins, 1973.

Best, Nicholas. “When Predatory Children Run in Germany.” The Financial Times. 13 September 1986: xiv.

Carty, Ciaran. “Out of Chaos Comes Order.” The Sunday Tribune. 14 September 1986:18.

Einstein, Albert. “Autobiographical Notes.” Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist. Ed. Paul Arthur Schlipp. Vol.1. New York: Harper & Brother’s Publishers, 1951: 1-95.

Findlay, Allen. “An Irish Devil.” Literary Review. (November) 1986: 11.

Friberg, Hedda. “John Banville and Derek Hand in Conversation.” Irish University Review, vol.36, no.1, (Spring-Summer) 2006: 200-215.

Hand, Derek. John Banville: Exploring Fictions. Dublin: The Liffey Press, 2002.

Hoffmann, Banesh. Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel. New York: The Viking Press, 1972.

Imhof, Rüdiger. “Mefisto.” Irish University Review. Vol.17, No.1 (Spring, 1987): 137-140.

---. “Q & A with John Banville.” Irish Literary Supplement. (Spring, 1987): 13.

Jackson, Joe. “Hitler, Stalin, Bob Dylan, Roddy Doyle… and Me.” Hot Press. Vol.18, No.19 (5 October 1994): 14-16.

Kelly, William. “John Banville’s Great Expectations.” Irish Literary Supplement. (Spring, 1987): 15.

Leland, Mary. “Gabriel’s Sinister Angel.” Irish Times. 13 September 1986: 5.

Lenzen, Victor F. “Einstein’s Theory of Knowledge.” Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist. Ed. Paul Arthur Schlipp. Vol.2. New York: Harper & Borother’s Publishers, 1951: 355-384.

McKeon, Belinda. “John Banville, The Art of Fiction No.200.” The Paris Review. No. 188. Spring 2009. 132-153.

Meaney, Helen. “Master of Paradox.” Irish Times. 24 March 1993, 12.

O’Mahony, Andy, ‘Interview with John Banville.’ The Book Show. RTÉ 1. 15 April 1976.

Powell, Kersti Tarien. “‘The Answer … Is Yes and No’: John Banville, Henry James, and The Ambassadors.” Irish University Review, vol. 45, no. 2, Nov. 2015: 302–319.

Sheehan, Ronan. “The Devil I Know.” Image. (September) 1986: 164, 166.

---.“John Banville and the Music of the Spheres.” The Irish Times. 13 September 1986: 9.

Tonkin, Boyd. “The Wrong Choice in a List Packed with Delights.” The Independent (11 October 2005)

Walters, Margaret. “Middle Distance Man.” The Observer. 14 September 1986: 27.

Dowloads

Pubblicato

2021-02-20

Fascicolo

V. 22 N. 1 (2020): ABEI Journal 22.1 — Word Upon World: Half a Century of John Banville's Universes

Sezione

Critical Dialogues

Licenza

Copyright (c) 2020 Kersti Tarien Powell

Creative Commons License

Questo volume è pubblicato con la licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale 4.0 Internazionale.

Come citare

Powell, K. T. (2021). “Cancel, yes, cancel, and begin again”: John Banville’s Path from ‘Einstein” to Mefisto. ABEI Journal, 22(1), 135-146. https://doi.org/10.37389/abei.v22i1.3853