Memory Revisited in Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending

An accumulation of years brings with it an accumulation of experiences. The revision of such experiences usually becomes more recurrent after retirement, a transition time from one period of life to another and, as such, a time in which we, human beings, have a tendency to take stock of our lives. T...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Oró Piqueras, Maricel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Institución:Universitat de Lleida (UdL)
Repositorio:Repositori Obert UdL
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.udl.cat:10459.1/47086
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1344/co20141387-95
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/47086
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:The ageing process
Memory
Narrative
Envelliment
Memòria -- Efectes de l'edat
Narrativa
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spelling Memory Revisited in Julian Barnes's The Sense of an EndingOró Piqueras, MaricelThe ageing processMemoryNarrativeEnvellimentMemòria -- Efectes de l'edatNarrativaAn accumulation of years brings with it an accumulation of experiences. The revision of such experiences usually becomes more recurrent after retirement, a transition time from one period of life to another and, as such, a time in which we, human beings, have a tendency to take stock of our lives. This is actually one of the main issues present in Julian Barnes's last novel The Sense of an Ending (2011). When the main protagonist, a retired man quite comfortable and contented with his present life, receives an unexpected inheritance from the mother of a girlfriend from his university years, he is forced to track down a part of his life that he had left at the back of his mind a long time ago. As he explains his story, the protagonist and narrator of the novel raises a number of questions related to the quality and function of memory as one gets into old age. He experiments the unreliability of memory and questions to what extent memory is constructed through the remembered emotions that invaded him over that episode of his life rather than through the events as they actually took place. On the other hand, the act of revisiting and revising that specific episode, brings with it feelings of guilt and remorse as the protagonist realises that his past acts were not as noble as he remembered them to be. However, these acts are part of the past and they cannot be changed; thus, another question that the novel raises is how to account for those actions of which one does not feel proud and, more importantly, how to manage those bad memories as one gets older.Observatori: Centre d’Estudis Australians, Australian Studies Centre, Universitat de Barcelona2014info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttps://doi.org/10.1344/co20141387-95http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/47086reponame:Repositori Obert UdL instname:Universitat de Lleida (UdL)InglésReproducció del document publicat a: http://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/coolabah/article/view/15527Coolabah, 2014, núm. 13, p. 87-94(c) Oró-Piqueras, Maricel, 2014info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositori.udl.cat:10459.1/470862026-06-24T12:42:17Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Memory Revisited in Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending
title Memory Revisited in Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending
spellingShingle Memory Revisited in Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending
Oró Piqueras, Maricel
The ageing process
Memory
Narrative
Envelliment
Memòria -- Efectes de l'edat
Narrativa
title_short Memory Revisited in Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending
title_full Memory Revisited in Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending
title_fullStr Memory Revisited in Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending
title_full_unstemmed Memory Revisited in Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending
title_sort Memory Revisited in Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Oró Piqueras, Maricel
author Oró Piqueras, Maricel
author_facet Oró Piqueras, Maricel
author_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv The ageing process
Memory
Narrative
Envelliment
Memòria -- Efectes de l'edat
Narrativa
topic The ageing process
Memory
Narrative
Envelliment
Memòria -- Efectes de l'edat
Narrativa
description An accumulation of years brings with it an accumulation of experiences. The revision of such experiences usually becomes more recurrent after retirement, a transition time from one period of life to another and, as such, a time in which we, human beings, have a tendency to take stock of our lives. This is actually one of the main issues present in Julian Barnes's last novel The Sense of an Ending (2011). When the main protagonist, a retired man quite comfortable and contented with his present life, receives an unexpected inheritance from the mother of a girlfriend from his university years, he is forced to track down a part of his life that he had left at the back of his mind a long time ago. As he explains his story, the protagonist and narrator of the novel raises a number of questions related to the quality and function of memory as one gets into old age. He experiments the unreliability of memory and questions to what extent memory is constructed through the remembered emotions that invaded him over that episode of his life rather than through the events as they actually took place. On the other hand, the act of revisiting and revising that specific episode, brings with it feelings of guilt and remorse as the protagonist realises that his past acts were not as noble as he remembered them to be. However, these acts are part of the past and they cannot be changed; thus, another question that the novel raises is how to account for those actions of which one does not feel proud and, more importantly, how to manage those bad memories as one gets older.
publishDate 2014
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2014
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://doi.org/10.1344/co20141387-95
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/47086
url https://doi.org/10.1344/co20141387-95
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/47086
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Reproducció del document publicat a: http://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/coolabah/article/view/15527
Coolabah, 2014, núm. 13, p. 87-94
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv (c) Oró-Piqueras, Maricel, 2014
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv (c) Oró-Piqueras, Maricel, 2014
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Observatori: Centre d’Estudis Australians, Australian Studies Centre, Universitat de Barcelona
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Observatori: Centre d’Estudis Australians, Australian Studies Centre, Universitat de Barcelona
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Repositori Obert UdL
instname:Universitat de Lleida (UdL)
instname_str Universitat de Lleida (UdL)
reponame_str Repositori Obert UdL
collection Repositori Obert UdL
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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