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The Themes of Loss and Loneliness in Jonathan Coe’s Novel “The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim”
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- Рубрика: MODERN FOREIGN LITERATURE: PROBLEMS OF STUDYING
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DOI: 10.26170/FK20-02-23
Abstract: The article analyzes the ninth novel by contemporary British writer Jonathan Coe (born in 1961) whose novels remain understudied by Russian literary critics. The most popular Coe’s novels are considered to be “What a Carve Up!” (1994) and “The Rotters’Club” (2001) although many experts on British literature may have also read his recent and already popular Brexit novel “Middle England” (2018). Nevertheless, “The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim” (2010) demands further studies in Russia and abroad since, in our opinion, it represents equally interesting and important piece of writing for studying contemporary British history, culture, individual consciousness and psychology. According to some literary theorists, this novel can be perceived as a subgenre of the “state-of-the-nation novel”, which is in our opinion a debatable question. The present article is based on the works of foreign specialists on Coe’s writing such as V. Guignery, D. Dumitraşcu, Ph. Tew etc. The article explores the most common (in contrast to the title) characteristics of a modern man of the XXI century by studying the themes of loss and loneliness in their psychoanalytical interpretation. Special attention is paid to perception and transformation of personal identity of the central character in terms of Freudian and Jungian theories. The novel skillfully incorporates literary and historical allusions, philosophical theories and concepts, descriptions of cultural and everyday life which all collectively create multidimensional textual space going beyond the limits of the novel studied.
Key words: NOVELS; LOSS; LONELINESS; PSYCHOANALYSIS; PERSONAL IDENTITY; LITERARY MOTIVES; BRITISH LITERATURE; BRITISH WRITERS; LITERARY WORK.
For citation
Khramova, Yu. A. (2020). The Themes of Loss and Loneliness in Jonathan Coe’s Novel “The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim”. In Philological Class. 2020. Vol. 25 ⋅ №2. P. 258-266. DOI 10.26170/FK20-02-23.