Violence as Surrealist Play in Angela Carter's Shadow Dance

Honeybuzzard, one of the main characters of Angela Carter’s début novel Shadow Dance (1966), has been described by one critic as playing like a big cat, tirelessly and cruelly; “anything and anyone is fair game” (Sage 11). Honeybuzzard has organised his life completely in accordance with the play im...

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Autor principal:	Anna Fruchart Watz
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	University of Edinburgh 2008
Materias:	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/0ff403c2d6d54397a7ce0f39dfe53518
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:0ff403c2d6d54397a7ce0f39dfe53518
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:0ff403c2d6d54397a7ce0f39dfe535182021-11-23T09:46:01ZViolence as Surrealist Play in Angela Carter's Shadow Dance1749-9771https://doaj.org/article/0ff403c2d6d54397a7ce0f39dfe535182008-08-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.forumjournal.org/article/view/603https://doaj.org/toc/1749-9771Honeybuzzard, one of the main characters of Angela Carter’s début novel Shadow Dance (1966), has been described by one critic as playing like a big cat, tirelessly and cruelly; “anything and anyone is fair game” (Sage 11). Honeybuzzard has organised his life completely in accordance with the play impulse, and he is not interested in anything structured by rational behaviour, work or profit. He is engaged in a constant process of making the Pleasure Principle triumph over the Reality Principle as he acts according to his capricious desires, which will turn increasingly violent and destructive as the narrative spirals towards its transgressive dénouement. Honeybuzzard’s violence can possibly be read as “a kind of (anti-)morality play which aims to undermine through exaggeration” (Gamble 54), but I think this reading does not fully acknowledge the subversive potential of his playful behaviour. In this paper, I propose to read Honeybuzzard’s nihilist play through the prism of surrealism – a movement itself known for its proliferating playfulness as well as its self-professed subversive aims.Anna Fruchart WatzUniversity of EdinburgharticleFine ArtsNLanguage and LiteraturePENForum (2008)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P
spellingShingle	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P Anna Fruchart Watz Violence as Surrealist Play in Angela Carter's Shadow Dance
description	Honeybuzzard, one of the main characters of Angela Carter’s début novel Shadow Dance (1966), has been described by one critic as playing like a big cat, tirelessly and cruelly; “anything and anyone is fair game” (Sage 11). Honeybuzzard has organised his life completely in accordance with the play impulse, and he is not interested in anything structured by rational behaviour, work or profit. He is engaged in a constant process of making the Pleasure Principle triumph over the Reality Principle as he acts according to his capricious desires, which will turn increasingly violent and destructive as the narrative spirals towards its transgressive dénouement. Honeybuzzard’s violence can possibly be read as “a kind of (anti-)morality play which aims to undermine through exaggeration” (Gamble 54), but I think this reading does not fully acknowledge the subversive potential of his playful behaviour. In this paper, I propose to read Honeybuzzard’s nihilist play through the prism of surrealism – a movement itself known for its proliferating playfulness as well as its self-professed subversive aims.
format	article
author	Anna Fruchart Watz
author_facet	Anna Fruchart Watz
author_sort	Anna Fruchart Watz
title	Violence as Surrealist Play in Angela Carter's Shadow Dance
title_short	Violence as Surrealist Play in Angela Carter's Shadow Dance
title_full	Violence as Surrealist Play in Angela Carter's Shadow Dance
title_fullStr	Violence as Surrealist Play in Angela Carter's Shadow Dance
title_full_unstemmed	Violence as Surrealist Play in Angela Carter's Shadow Dance
title_sort	violence as surrealist play in angela carter's shadow dance
publisher	University of Edinburgh
publishDate	2008
url	https://doaj.org/article/0ff403c2d6d54397a7ce0f39dfe53518
work_keys_str_mv	AT annafruchartwatz violenceassurrealistplayinangelacartersshadowdance
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Violence as Surrealist Play in Angela Carter's Shadow Dance

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