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Article published In: Language, Context and Text
Vol. 1:2 (2019) ► pp.313–340

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Covert modernist techniques in Australian fiction

A systemic functional reading of Peter Carey’s American dreams

ORCiD logo with link | Macquarie University
Published online: 22 July 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/langct.00013.til
Abstract
Peter Carey’s short story American dreams (Carey, Peter. 1994 [1974]. The fat man in history. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) presents a recalibration of consciousness as a small Australian town gradually becomes Americanized. The text foregrounds epistemological concerns by demonstrating a clear tendency toward delayed understanding. For this reason, I argue that the story is an instance of modernist fiction: a label not previously applied to Carey’s stories. In contrast with popular modernist techniques such as free indirect discourse and stream of consciousness, the techniques presented in the text appear to be covert, which may at least partially explain why the story has managed to avoid being labelled modernist by literary critics until now. Using analytical tools grounded in systemic functional grammar and appraisal categories, I demonstrate how linguistic analysis can lay bare the covert modernist techniques at work in the story, indicating that such an approach can be a useful complement to non-linguistic literary criticism.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Modernist fiction and linguistic analysis
  • 3. American dreams and literary classification
  • 4.Plot synopsis
  • 5.Delayed understanding through thematic structure
  • 6.Delayed understanding through process types
  • 7.Delayed understanding through lexis
  • 8.Developmental editing and its effect on the text
  • 9.Delayed understanding in the context of Australian modernism
  • 10.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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