Archetypal themes in Julian Barnes' A history of the world in 10 1/2 chapters

Archetypal analysis is one of the most common forms of literary analysis and can be applied to any text: it provides a deep insight into both the content and form ensuring a full and comprehensive interpretation of the literary work. Technically interpretation of the text in terms of archetypes entails revealing archetypes within a defined context - a contemporary novel in our case. There are many advantages of this approach that we are going to dwell at in our article. Thus, this paper is our modest contribution to applying archetypal theme analysis to Julian Barnes’ acclaimed novel. Generally, the concept of an archetype is used in many different areas: philosophy, psychology, literature. Before dwelling at length we should define the key concept of the article - an archetype. According to Oxford online dictionary it has several meanings:

A very typical example of a certain person or thing An original which has been imitated; a prototype: Psychoanalysis (In Jungian theory) a primitive mental image inherited from the earliest human ancestors, and supposed to be present in the collective unconscious

A recurrent symbol or motif in literature, art, or mythology.

Holman’s A Handbook of literature’ defines an archetype as a literary form that “ applies to any image, a descriptive detail, a plot pattern, or a character type that occurs frequently in literature, myth, religion, or folklore and is therefore believed

to evoke profound emotions in the reader because it awakens primordial image in his unconscious memory thus calls into play illogical but strong responses” [ Holman 1985:34].

In the Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms an archetype is defined as myth [Peter Childs, Roger Fowler 2006:11].

Therefore in literature, an archetype is a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature. By archetypal analysis we understand here revealing archetypes and analyzing them in relation to the form and content of the novel. Obviously, some archetypes are culturally marked and may be considered as key symbols of a culture. Such concepts like love, religion, birth, death, life, struggle, survival are universal. By the way, we can find all of them in Julian Barnes’ novel. Maybe this is one of the reasons why he entitles the book "A History of the World’ but, after all, ‘we are all in the same boat’, ccording to Jung, water is also the commonest symbol for the unconscious. The sea is the mother of all life; spiritual mystery and infinity; death and rebirth; timelessness and eternity; the unconscious. All these archetypes do exist in subconscious mind of every individual and are recreated in literary works or other forms of art.

It should be apparent that myths are not merely fanciful and entertaining stories for children. They are stories that attempt to provide a much profound understanding of the real world, its history. The outstanding Russian academic A.Losev in his philosophical work "Myth dialectics ’ examined the phenomenon thoroughly and came to the conclusion that ‘myth is the most necessary category of thought and life’ [Лосев 2001:19].

Contemporary writers may approach them romantically, realistically or ironically sometimes as the renowned contemporary British writer - Julian Barnes does in his famous novel. From my point of view it is just due to archetypal themes (myths, mythical beasts and birds, characters, settings, symbols) running through the novel that the work acquires its unity and integrity. Karen Hewitt is absolutely right when she argues in "A History of the World in 10 A Chapters’ Commentary against categorizing the novel as ‘a pure example of postmodernism: playful, ironic, and full of narrative tricks similar to those a conjuror might perform on stage’

But Barnes is, at a deeper level, a much more serious and committed writer than this ‘postmodern;’ label suggests. He does not present us with the kind of seeing- it- in-the -mirror’ puzzle that can only be solved by linguistic games. In every one of his chapters he is asking thoughtful and provocative questions about the human condition [Hewitt 2006:5].

Each chapter offers such a range of knowledge and allusions that they are ideal for readers’ self-education and development. My undergraduate students and I learned much new information about history and historic events. Moreover, mythical images resonate at a deeper level, they strike our emotional chords.

It is not by chance Julian Barnes speaks about human’s fascination with Biblical myths, stories, and supernatural explanations of historic events. Noah disembarks from his Ark but he and his Voyage are not forgotten. Moreover, they are revisited in on other centuries and other genres. And speaking metaphorically it is still sailing through history of the whole humanity in various material forms:

The wind continues to blow, and the tides to run: the Ark eventually reaches the horizon, and disappears over it [Barnes 1989: 138].

The author further in ‘Three Simple Stories ’ tries to explain the sophisticated nature between myth, history and reality:

Many people (including me) believe the myth of Bartley, just as millions have believed the myth of Jonah. You may not credit it, but what has happened is that the story has been retold, adjusted, updated; it has shuffled nearer. For Jonah now read Bartley.<...>For the point is this: not that myth refers us back to some original event which has been fancifully transcribed as it passed through the collective memory; but that it refers us forward to something that will happen, that must happen. Myth will become reality, however sceptical we might be [Barnes 1989:183].

Why are people so fascinated with telling or writing stories? We have lived and live in the world where there is no harmony or any order. Moreover, we can’t find answers to a great number of eternal timeless questions. And one of the most important roles of literature is that of a soother. By the way, the archaic meaning of the word sooth is truth. A writer tries to create a harmonious model in his work and a reader seeks answers to his problems and anxieties he can’t find in real life: ‘You keep a few true facts and spin a new story round them’ [Barnes 1989:110].

The author sustains this idea in the second chapter. The main character Franklin was asked to explain things to the audience:

He felt his audience begin to relax. The circumstances were unusual, but they were being told a story, and they were offering themselves to the story-teller in the manner of audiences down the ages, wanting to see how things turned out, wanting to have the world explained to them [Barnes 1989: 55].

Through reading the novel, we are tracing the evolution of the various themes. The central archetypal theme, which runs through the novel and unites it, that is of survival. It starts in the very first chapter with Noah’s Ark - the highlight of the whole book and continues further with emerging boats and ships sailing at sea. By my understanding, all these sea vessels and metaphors embody the concept of hope. Despite all apocalyptical scenarios, still there is a glimmer of hope for humans to survive in our extremely competitive and politicized world which is becoming increasingly ruthless, aggressive and unpredictable.

There is one more crucial motif to be mentioned here, that is, of repeated history - in more general terms of cyclic time which is the key one for interpreting the message of the book and the author’s intention. Mystical submersion into cyclical time: the theme of endless death and regeneration-human beings achieve a kind of immortality by submitting to the vast, mysterious rhythm of Nature's eternal cycle, particularly the cycle of the seasons. The human history has been a continuous struggle for superiority, dominance over weaker and smaller nations (not Jittest to survive). The author draws parallels between us, humans, and animals, the comparison is not in our favour, of course. Animals do not invent sophisticated weapons of mass destruction, wage wars or damage the environment. It is just humans who are to blame for all the apocalyptical consequences.

As we have seen, an application of archetypal analysis takes us far beyond the traditional approach of study - back to the beginning of humankind’s oldest rituals and beliefs and deep into our emotional, subconscious mind.

However, the archetypal themes are worth further exploring and open to more interpretations together with traditional critical techniques.