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20opinions, presenting our groundbreaking views and simply further exploring contemporary British literature on the way. Good luck to us all then!
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Music and Literature
Victoria Minina
Manager Training Institute, Minsk 22102, Belarus, Minsk, Lazo str., 12.
Dear Editors,
Now and then Footpath carries articles on the interaction between various kinds of art - film, painting, photography, music -and literature, thus reflecting the obvious tendency for synthesis of arts characteristic of contemporary culture, the tendency which can be observed in the collection of books offered by the Oxford-Russia Fund, too. Suffice it to mention What a Carve Up!, Headlong, History of the World in 10 ¥2 Chapters, Ulverton, Master Georgie to see how various works of visual arts are manipulated with in literary texts.
Will May's article Music in Contemporary British Fiction pours light on the range of ways music is incorporated into a number of novels by present-day writers who either turn to it 'by way of analogy or to offer a suggestive soundtrack to the protagonists' fictive worlds' [May W. Music in Contemporary British Fiction // Footpath No5, p.9). The article, on the one hand draws parallels, on the other brings out differences between the authors' handling of musical themes, between the roles 'the most abstract art form of all' plays in the novels by Rose Tremain, Antony Burgess, Jonathan Coe, Ian McEwan, Zadie Smith and Bernard MacLaverty. Will May's profound study gives a basis for and invites further research into the problem, the more so since the list of writers who, in one way or another, resort to musical themes is not exhausted by those who figure in the article.
Among others who deserve mention in this respect is Kazuo Ishiguro who used to be a musician himself, in his youth played in a band and wrote lyrics. Thus, the theme of music has become very close and significant for him and he touches upon it in many of his works. A good example is the novel The Unconsoled [1995) with a
fictitious internationally recognized pianist Ryder as its main character. The novel offers speculations on music, musicians, composers and concert tours. The stumbling point is modern music, as not all of the characters understand it and appreciate its value and beauty.
One more novel partially dealing with music is Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go [2005) by the same author, the key symbol of which is the song under the same title. The song stands for the desire of the clone-characters to have parents they never had and families of their own they are forbidden to have. Repeated several times, the song transforms into a symbolic litany, a poignant prayer of donor-clones to let them live and love.
Ishiguro is also the author of Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall [2010).These are five heartbreaking and melancholic short stories about a once famous singer, a philosophically-minded music fan, a young songwriter, a jazz musician and a talented young cellist whose tutor corrupts his soul. Music plays a central part in their lives, it is their only passion, their refuge and their companion.
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END NOTES: Advice to Contributors to Footpath, and information about ordering the journal.
The Editors wish to thank the contributors for the articles and letters and student essays which were submitted for Footpath-6. We read all the contributions very carefully and discussed them before deciding whether to accept or reject them.
The ORF project on Contemporary English Literature was established specifically to focus on literary approaches to the study of English. Literature is both a joy and a necessity for anyone who wants to study a language and a culture at a profound level; the essays published in Section Nine of the journal bear witness to how important and exciting literary study is for your students.
We particularly welcome literary articles on novels which are not part of the ORF project. [The journal would be very boring if we confined ourselves to discussing the nineteen novels on the list!) We
