Colour symbolism in the novel "Metroland" by Julian Barnes

In the article the analysis of colour symbolism in the debut novel "Metroland" (1980) by the contemporary English writer J.Barnes is carried out. The role of the epigraph from the poem "Vowels" by Rimbaud and its development in the colour system of Barnes's work are studied. The sequence of colours (black, white, red, green and blue) is described and their artistic senses in the novel are interpreted as well as the role of electric (orange) light under which all the colours change into brown (the colour of sepia) are explained. Through symbolism of light and colour in the novel various forms of life "lightening" are ironically opposed. The theme of recollections of the childhood and youth of the character correlates with the theme of life-sense search in its relations to art.