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

Covert modernist techniques in Australian fiction

A systemic functional reading of Peter Carey’s American dreams

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Peter Carey’s short story American dreams (Carey 1994 [1974]) 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.

Keywords: systemic functional linguistics, stylistics, appraisal, attitude, prosodic realization, Peter Carey, American dreams , Australian literature, short story, modernist fiction
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
Published online: 22 July 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/langct.00013.til
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