“Dearest Reader, It’s Up to You”: Articulating the Theory of Aesthetic Response and Metafiction in Ian McEwan’s Sweet Tooth
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17851/2317-2096.29.4.141-164Keywords:
theory of aesthetic response, implied reader, metafiction, parody, mise en abyme, Ian McEwan, Sweet ToothAbstract
In this paper, we aim at discussing the figure of the reader and the reading processes in Ian McEwan’s novel Sweet Tooth. To do so, we propose an articulation between the theoretical discourses on metafiction and the theory of aesthetic response. Drawing from theoretical frameworks elaborated mainly by Iser (1972, 1978, 1989, 2006) – regarding the theory of aesthetic response – and by Hutcheon (1980, 2000) and Waugh (1984) – regarding metafiction – we understand parody and mise en abyme as two metafictional procedures that constitute the structure of the implied reader. In this sense, if these metafictional creative strategies make the reading activity more complex, they also function as guiding systems to the reader, allowing him to pursue answers to the enigmas articulated within the novel. Parody and mise en abyme, for McEwan, are powerful tools in what we might perceive as a project to develop more proficient readers.
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