Michael Bates | The University of Sheffield (original) (raw)

Papers by Michael Bates

Given at the University of York's 'Beckett Among Others' event, this paper looks in-depth at the ... more Given at the University of York's 'Beckett Among Others' event, this paper looks in-depth at the relationship of Beckett's characters and the animals that inhabit his short fiction. Focussing primarily upon the horses that are met throughout Les Nouvelles, a discussion of Beckett's representation of animal exploitation and the social legtimising of this ecophobic behaviour leads us to establish Beckett as an environmentally conscious author.

This paper aimed to demonstrate the ways in which one can enter into, and conduct, an ecocritical... more This paper aimed to demonstrate the ways in which one can enter into, and conduct, an ecocritical analysis of Samuel Beckett's writing. By entering through the more frequently-taken route of phenomenological analysis, and then extending this framework to not only discuss the perception of a world, but of its constituent environments and ecosystems.

The ultimate aim of this paper was to demonstrate the way in which an ecocritical reading need not be conducted through the lens of political or ideological conservationism by showing how one can do so whilst approaching a body of work uninterested in the topic of environmentalism.

W.G. Sebald’s collection of short poems, Unerzählt, is a problematic text: not only is it transla... more W.G. Sebald’s collection of short poems, Unerzählt, is a problematic text: not only is it translated from German, but it was released posthumously (although we are assured Michael Hamburger’s translation was approved by the author before his death). The final complication comes into play when we look at an earlier posthumous collection; a collaboration with Tess Jaray entitled For Years Now.

Nearly half of the poems included in For Years Now also appeared in Unerzählt. Not only this, but they are present in alternative, uncredited translations that Michael Hamburger revealed were those of the author. So why would W.G. Sebald relinquish control of his texts by allowing Michael Hamburger to translate them, after having previously completing this work himself?

The plot thickens when we translate the texts from the original German; Sebald’s translations are those that deviate furthest from the literal meaning of the texts. Why is it that when the author had control of his text it changed the most, yet when handed to another writer the meaning remained the same? By demonstrating the changes in each version when compared to the original German, I will discuss the implications this has for a reading of Sebald’s poetry and the methodological issues presented by the choices made by translators.

gla.ac.uk

W. G. Sebald’s travelogue Vertigo (2002) takes the reader through many countries, times and cultu... more W. G. Sebald’s travelogue Vertigo (2002) takes the reader through many countries, times and cultural landscapes as they follow Sebald’s flaneur on a journey of self-discovery and exploration in contemporary Europe. By analysing just a handful of the images encountered, alongside their associated cultural and psychological impact upon the narrator, one can reveal that, far from simply detailing an individual’s journey, the narrator is discussing, revealing and experiencing the effects of 20th century European discourse.

From the effects of Christianity on Jewish children to the impact of the two World Wars and further into the past, to the Napoleonic campaigns of the early 19th century, the narrator reveals a means of understanding history and 20th century European culture that is both devastating and liberating in its implications. Every moment in history is shown to be equally important in the determination of Europe’s future and its interplay with the past, as the paths of four historically and socially remote characters soon reveal through their repeated pilgrimages through continental Europe.

Europe, as a cultural body, affords the individual the opportunity for freedom but when larger social and political bodies participate in these discourses the effects are shown to be much less beneficial. In Vertigo Sebald reveals the opportunities for self-extrication from a mono-cultural identity as incontrovertibly linked to the destruction of other cultural traditions through the interference of larger political bodies.

Joyce’s final work, Finnegans Wake, takes the reader through a multitude of forms and figures as ... more Joyce’s final work, Finnegans Wake, takes the reader through a multitude of forms and figures as the style ebbs and flows through the course of the narrative. This aquacity of both form and content allows the characters and even the words themselves, to transform themselves through the ambiguity of meanings that is ever present within the text. Through an examination of the novel’s final chapter, we will see how a fluid representation of gender and identity is used by the narrator to create a model of inspiration that is formulated by the novel’s final narrator Anna Livia Plurabell. As she moves back and forth between sexual identities, her final soliloquoy and letter to the reader both reveal an understanding of artistic expression that depends upon the blurring of individual and sexual identity in order to allow the conception of the aesthetic object. It is the ability for the narrator and her spouse to adopt both ambiguous genders and sexualities that allows the artistic idea to be conceived and, subsequently, realised in its entirety.

Given at the University of York's 'Beckett Among Others' event, this paper looks in-depth at the ... more Given at the University of York's 'Beckett Among Others' event, this paper looks in-depth at the relationship of Beckett's characters and the animals that inhabit his short fiction. Focussing primarily upon the horses that are met throughout Les Nouvelles, a discussion of Beckett's representation of animal exploitation and the social legtimising of this ecophobic behaviour leads us to establish Beckett as an environmentally conscious author.

This paper aimed to demonstrate the ways in which one can enter into, and conduct, an ecocritical... more This paper aimed to demonstrate the ways in which one can enter into, and conduct, an ecocritical analysis of Samuel Beckett's writing. By entering through the more frequently-taken route of phenomenological analysis, and then extending this framework to not only discuss the perception of a world, but of its constituent environments and ecosystems.

The ultimate aim of this paper was to demonstrate the way in which an ecocritical reading need not be conducted through the lens of political or ideological conservationism by showing how one can do so whilst approaching a body of work uninterested in the topic of environmentalism.

W.G. Sebald’s collection of short poems, Unerzählt, is a problematic text: not only is it transla... more W.G. Sebald’s collection of short poems, Unerzählt, is a problematic text: not only is it translated from German, but it was released posthumously (although we are assured Michael Hamburger’s translation was approved by the author before his death). The final complication comes into play when we look at an earlier posthumous collection; a collaboration with Tess Jaray entitled For Years Now.

Nearly half of the poems included in For Years Now also appeared in Unerzählt. Not only this, but they are present in alternative, uncredited translations that Michael Hamburger revealed were those of the author. So why would W.G. Sebald relinquish control of his texts by allowing Michael Hamburger to translate them, after having previously completing this work himself?

The plot thickens when we translate the texts from the original German; Sebald’s translations are those that deviate furthest from the literal meaning of the texts. Why is it that when the author had control of his text it changed the most, yet when handed to another writer the meaning remained the same? By demonstrating the changes in each version when compared to the original German, I will discuss the implications this has for a reading of Sebald’s poetry and the methodological issues presented by the choices made by translators.

gla.ac.uk

W. G. Sebald’s travelogue Vertigo (2002) takes the reader through many countries, times and cultu... more W. G. Sebald’s travelogue Vertigo (2002) takes the reader through many countries, times and cultural landscapes as they follow Sebald’s flaneur on a journey of self-discovery and exploration in contemporary Europe. By analysing just a handful of the images encountered, alongside their associated cultural and psychological impact upon the narrator, one can reveal that, far from simply detailing an individual’s journey, the narrator is discussing, revealing and experiencing the effects of 20th century European discourse.

From the effects of Christianity on Jewish children to the impact of the two World Wars and further into the past, to the Napoleonic campaigns of the early 19th century, the narrator reveals a means of understanding history and 20th century European culture that is both devastating and liberating in its implications. Every moment in history is shown to be equally important in the determination of Europe’s future and its interplay with the past, as the paths of four historically and socially remote characters soon reveal through their repeated pilgrimages through continental Europe.

Europe, as a cultural body, affords the individual the opportunity for freedom but when larger social and political bodies participate in these discourses the effects are shown to be much less beneficial. In Vertigo Sebald reveals the opportunities for self-extrication from a mono-cultural identity as incontrovertibly linked to the destruction of other cultural traditions through the interference of larger political bodies.

Joyce’s final work, Finnegans Wake, takes the reader through a multitude of forms and figures as ... more Joyce’s final work, Finnegans Wake, takes the reader through a multitude of forms and figures as the style ebbs and flows through the course of the narrative. This aquacity of both form and content allows the characters and even the words themselves, to transform themselves through the ambiguity of meanings that is ever present within the text. Through an examination of the novel’s final chapter, we will see how a fluid representation of gender and identity is used by the narrator to create a model of inspiration that is formulated by the novel’s final narrator Anna Livia Plurabell. As she moves back and forth between sexual identities, her final soliloquoy and letter to the reader both reveal an understanding of artistic expression that depends upon the blurring of individual and sexual identity in order to allow the conception of the aesthetic object. It is the ability for the narrator and her spouse to adopt both ambiguous genders and sexualities that allows the artistic idea to be conceived and, subsequently, realised in its entirety.