Hard Science, Soft Emotions: Affection Value and Ethical Judgement in Ian McEwan’s “Solid Geometry”

Lin Yuzhen

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13

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Hard Science, Soft Emotions: Affection Value and Ethical Judgement in Ian McEwan’s “Solid Geometry”

Lin Yuzhen

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 7, Issue 5)

Received: 6 June 2019 Accepted: 5 September 2019 Published: 20 September 2019

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Abstract

Ian McEwan’s early works brought him the “Ian Macabre” tag because they narrate many horror stories. In “Solid Geometry”, for instance, a husband intoxicated in mathematics mercilessly yet “scientifically killed” his wife through his exploration planes without a surface. This paper, first of all, admits that under the cover of a hard science, the story depicts violence in a soft way. Yet more importantly, enlightened by the affective narratology of Hungarian narratologist Patrick Colm Hogan and German narratologist Vera Nünning, we hold that McEwan’s purposes of narrating such a story lies far beyond depicting violence through hard science. As a matter of fact, McEwan’s sympathy toward women suffering from cold violence is conveyed through the story’s three-layered narrative structure, the emotional conflict revealed between each two of the layers, and the narrative tension achieved through the affective narration within this short story. Moreover, the whole narrative progression conforms to the gender ethics of the author’s writing period when an increasing awareness to the sexism in family relations captured the attention of intellectuals from various fields. In this story, the male protagonist’s fancy toward mathematics is an excuse for his escaping from family duties including the sexual one. On the other hand, he also avoids social responsibility for as an assumed mathematician, he contributes his research finding to no social program of development, but utilizes it as a tool of murdering. In condemning this wrong ethic selection, McEwan proves his excellence as a responsible intellectual instead of a simple “pornographer” or a “macabre”.

Published in	International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 7, Issue 5)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13
Page(s)	105-111
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

“Ian Macabre”, “Solid Geometry”, Embedded Narrative Structure, Science, Affective Values, Ethics Judgement

References

[1]	McEwan, Ian. First Love, Last Rites. London: Jonathan Cape. 1975.
[2]	McEwan, Ian. In Between the Sheets. London: Jonathan Cape. 1978.
[3]	Byrnes, Christina. “Ian McEwan—Pornographer or Prophet?”, Contemporary Review, 266.1553 (1995): 320-323.
[4]	Malcolm, David. Understanding Ian McEwan. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. 2002.
[5]	Pedot, Richard. “Kafka’s Ape? Metamorphosis in Ian McEwan’s Short Stories.” Comparative Critical Studies 2.3 (2005): 411-425.
[6]	Head, Dominic. Contemporary British Novelists: Ian McEwan. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 2013.
[7]	Cojocaru, Monica. “‘Brevity is the soul of wit’: Ian McEwan’s Short Prose.” East-West Cultural Passage 1 (2017): 100-111.
[8]	Shahbazi Moghadam, Nahid & Arbaayah Ali Termizi. “The grotesque body in Ian McEwan’s short stories.” Nordic Journal of English Studies 16.3 (2017): 37-59.
[9]	McEwan, Ian. “Literature, Science and Human Nature.” In Human Nature: Fact and Fiction. Eds. Robin Headlam Wells & Johnjoe McFadden. London & New York: Continuum, 2006. 40-62.
[10]	Rees-Jones, Deryn. “Fact and Artefact: Poetry, Science, and a Few Thoughts on Ian McEwan’s Saturday.” Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 30: 4 (2005): 331-40.
[11]	Carbonell, Curtis D. “A Consilient Science and Humanities in McEwan’s Enduring Love.” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, 12.3 (2010): https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.1425.
[12]	Cojocaru, Monica. “Contending Narratives in Ian McEwan’s Fiction.” Transivalnia 1 (2016): 59-65.
[13]	Hogan, Patrick Colm. Affective Narratology: The Emotional Structure of Stories. Lincoln & London: University of Nebraska Press. 2011.
[14]	Nünning, Vera. “The Affective Value of Fiction: Presenting and Evoking Emotions.” In Writing Emotions: Theoretical Concepts and Selected Case Studies in Literature. Eds. by Ingeborg Jandl, Susanne Knaller, Sabine Schönfellner, and Gudrun Tockner. Berlin: Transcript Verlag. 2017. 29-54.
[15]	Zalewski, Daniel. “The Background Hum: Ian McEwan’s art of unease.” The New Yorker. 2009-02-23. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/02/23/the-background-hum.

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Lin Yuzhen. (2019). Hard Science, Soft Emotions: Affection Value and Ethical Judgement in Ian McEwan’s “Solid Geometry”. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 7(5), 105-111. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13

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Lin Yuzhen. Hard Science, Soft Emotions: Affection Value and Ethical Judgement in Ian McEwan’s “Solid Geometry”. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2019, 7(5), 105-111. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13

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AMA Style

Lin Yuzhen. Hard Science, Soft Emotions: Affection Value and Ethical Judgement in Ian McEwan’s “Solid Geometry”. Int J Lit Arts. 2019;7(5):105-111. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13,
  author = {Lin Yuzhen},
  title = {Hard Science, Soft Emotions: Affection Value and Ethical Judgement in Ian McEwan’s “Solid Geometry”},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {7},
  number = {5},
  pages = {105-111},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20190705.13},
  abstract = {Ian McEwan’s early works brought him the “Ian Macabre” tag because they narrate many horror stories. In “Solid Geometry”, for instance, a husband intoxicated in mathematics mercilessly yet “scientifically killed” his wife through his exploration planes without a surface. This paper, first of all, admits that under the cover of a hard science, the story depicts violence in a soft way. Yet more importantly, enlightened by the affective narratology of Hungarian narratologist Patrick Colm Hogan and German narratologist Vera Nünning, we hold that McEwan’s purposes of narrating such a story lies far beyond depicting violence through hard science. As a matter of fact, McEwan’s sympathy toward women suffering from cold violence is conveyed through the story’s three-layered narrative structure, the emotional conflict revealed between each two of the layers, and the narrative tension achieved through the affective narration within this short story. Moreover, the whole narrative progression conforms to the gender ethics of the author’s writing period when an increasing awareness to the sexism in family relations captured the attention of intellectuals from various fields. In this story, the male protagonist’s fancy toward mathematics is an excuse for his escaping from family duties including the sexual one. On the other hand, he also avoids social responsibility for as an assumed mathematician, he contributes his research finding to no social program of development, but utilizes it as a tool of murdering. In condemning this wrong ethic selection, McEwan proves his excellence as a responsible intellectual instead of a simple “pornographer” or a “macabre”.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Hard Science, Soft Emotions: Affection Value and Ethical Judgement in Ian McEwan’s “Solid Geometry”
AU  - Lin Yuzhen
Y1  - 2019/09/20
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 105
EP  - 111
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13
AB  - Ian McEwan’s early works brought him the “Ian Macabre” tag because they narrate many horror stories. In “Solid Geometry”, for instance, a husband intoxicated in mathematics mercilessly yet “scientifically killed” his wife through his exploration planes without a surface. This paper, first of all, admits that under the cover of a hard science, the story depicts violence in a soft way. Yet more importantly, enlightened by the affective narratology of Hungarian narratologist Patrick Colm Hogan and German narratologist Vera Nünning, we hold that McEwan’s purposes of narrating such a story lies far beyond depicting violence through hard science. As a matter of fact, McEwan’s sympathy toward women suffering from cold violence is conveyed through the story’s three-layered narrative structure, the emotional conflict revealed between each two of the layers, and the narrative tension achieved through the affective narration within this short story. Moreover, the whole narrative progression conforms to the gender ethics of the author’s writing period when an increasing awareness to the sexism in family relations captured the attention of intellectuals from various fields. In this story, the male protagonist’s fancy toward mathematics is an excuse for his escaping from family duties including the sexual one. On the other hand, he also avoids social responsibility for as an assumed mathematician, he contributes his research finding to no social program of development, but utilizes it as a tool of murdering. In condemning this wrong ethic selection, McEwan proves his excellence as a responsible intellectual instead of a simple “pornographer” or a “macabre”.
VL  - 7
IS  - 5
ER  -

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Author Information

Lin Yuzhen

English Department, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Lin Yuzhen. (2019). Hard Science, Soft Emotions: Affection Value and Ethical Judgement in Ian McEwan’s “Solid Geometry”. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 7(5), 105-111. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13

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ACS Style

Lin Yuzhen. Hard Science, Soft Emotions: Affection Value and Ethical Judgement in Ian McEwan’s “Solid Geometry”. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2019, 7(5), 105-111. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13

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AMA Style

Lin Yuzhen. Hard Science, Soft Emotions: Affection Value and Ethical Judgement in Ian McEwan’s “Solid Geometry”. Int J Lit Arts. 2019;7(5):105-111. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13,
  author = {Lin Yuzhen},
  title = {Hard Science, Soft Emotions: Affection Value and Ethical Judgement in Ian McEwan’s “Solid Geometry”},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {7},
  number = {5},
  pages = {105-111},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20190705.13},
  abstract = {Ian McEwan’s early works brought him the “Ian Macabre” tag because they narrate many horror stories. In “Solid Geometry”, for instance, a husband intoxicated in mathematics mercilessly yet “scientifically killed” his wife through his exploration planes without a surface. This paper, first of all, admits that under the cover of a hard science, the story depicts violence in a soft way. Yet more importantly, enlightened by the affective narratology of Hungarian narratologist Patrick Colm Hogan and German narratologist Vera Nünning, we hold that McEwan’s purposes of narrating such a story lies far beyond depicting violence through hard science. As a matter of fact, McEwan’s sympathy toward women suffering from cold violence is conveyed through the story’s three-layered narrative structure, the emotional conflict revealed between each two of the layers, and the narrative tension achieved through the affective narration within this short story. Moreover, the whole narrative progression conforms to the gender ethics of the author’s writing period when an increasing awareness to the sexism in family relations captured the attention of intellectuals from various fields. In this story, the male protagonist’s fancy toward mathematics is an excuse for his escaping from family duties including the sexual one. On the other hand, he also avoids social responsibility for as an assumed mathematician, he contributes his research finding to no social program of development, but utilizes it as a tool of murdering. In condemning this wrong ethic selection, McEwan proves his excellence as a responsible intellectual instead of a simple “pornographer” or a “macabre”.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Hard Science, Soft Emotions: Affection Value and Ethical Judgement in Ian McEwan’s “Solid Geometry”
AU  - Lin Yuzhen
Y1  - 2019/09/20
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 105
EP  - 111
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20190705.13
AB  - Ian McEwan’s early works brought him the “Ian Macabre” tag because they narrate many horror stories. In “Solid Geometry”, for instance, a husband intoxicated in mathematics mercilessly yet “scientifically killed” his wife through his exploration planes without a surface. This paper, first of all, admits that under the cover of a hard science, the story depicts violence in a soft way. Yet more importantly, enlightened by the affective narratology of Hungarian narratologist Patrick Colm Hogan and German narratologist Vera Nünning, we hold that McEwan’s purposes of narrating such a story lies far beyond depicting violence through hard science. As a matter of fact, McEwan’s sympathy toward women suffering from cold violence is conveyed through the story’s three-layered narrative structure, the emotional conflict revealed between each two of the layers, and the narrative tension achieved through the affective narration within this short story. Moreover, the whole narrative progression conforms to the gender ethics of the author’s writing period when an increasing awareness to the sexism in family relations captured the attention of intellectuals from various fields. In this story, the male protagonist’s fancy toward mathematics is an excuse for his escaping from family duties including the sexual one. On the other hand, he also avoids social responsibility for as an assumed mathematician, he contributes his research finding to no social program of development, but utilizes it as a tool of murdering. In condemning this wrong ethic selection, McEwan proves his excellence as a responsible intellectual instead of a simple “pornographer” or a “macabre”.
VL  - 7
IS  - 5
ER  -

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