The Chronotope of Home in The Rainbow: Place, Time and Identity
Home in contemporary culture is acquiring ontological value due to our changing globalized world. In Lawrence’s fiction, the concept of home is an important metaphor of self and identity. In this paper, I apply Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the chronotope to elucidate the meaning and role of home in i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires de Paris Nanterre
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Études Lawrenciennes |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/lawrence/3893 |
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| author | Marina Ragachewskaya |
| author_facet | Marina Ragachewskaya |
| author_sort | Marina Ragachewskaya |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Home in contemporary culture is acquiring ontological value due to our changing globalized world. In Lawrence’s fiction, the concept of home is an important metaphor of self and identity. In this paper, I apply Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the chronotope to elucidate the meaning and role of home in identity creation, drawing on a reading of The Rainbow. The static (place) and the dynamic (time) qualities of the home chronotope are catalysts of the action and feeling for most of the Brangwen family members. Home is mostly an enclosed static space, which magnetically draws its inhabitants. Life whirls and bubbles around it, making it dynamic as well – from the nineteenth-century agricultural domestic arrangements to the change and flux of the early twentieth century. Thus the stability of home is constantly disrupted by changes, newcomers, by life itself. Ursula’s identity as one of the Brangwen women whose eyes remain turned to the outside world, but who are their own selves only within the enclosure of their home, is formed by the complementary drives of leave taking and home-coming. The threshold, both the symbolic image and Bakhtinian chronotope, is constantly present in the narration, marking the crucial moments in the characters’ lives. Ursula’s identity undergoes such changes and becomes firmly established as a Brangwen woman. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ca32e5b167974208b96fd5e68123cf9c |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0994-5490 2272-4001 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires de Paris Nanterre |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Études Lawrenciennes |
| spelling | doaj-art-ca32e5b167974208b96fd5e68123cf9c2025-08-20T01:55:19ZengPresses Universitaires de Paris NanterreÉtudes Lawrenciennes0994-54902272-40012024-10-015610.4000/12olzThe Chronotope of Home in The Rainbow: Place, Time and IdentityMarina RagachewskayaHome in contemporary culture is acquiring ontological value due to our changing globalized world. In Lawrence’s fiction, the concept of home is an important metaphor of self and identity. In this paper, I apply Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the chronotope to elucidate the meaning and role of home in identity creation, drawing on a reading of The Rainbow. The static (place) and the dynamic (time) qualities of the home chronotope are catalysts of the action and feeling for most of the Brangwen family members. Home is mostly an enclosed static space, which magnetically draws its inhabitants. Life whirls and bubbles around it, making it dynamic as well – from the nineteenth-century agricultural domestic arrangements to the change and flux of the early twentieth century. Thus the stability of home is constantly disrupted by changes, newcomers, by life itself. Ursula’s identity as one of the Brangwen women whose eyes remain turned to the outside world, but who are their own selves only within the enclosure of their home, is formed by the complementary drives of leave taking and home-coming. The threshold, both the symbolic image and Bakhtinian chronotope, is constantly present in the narration, marking the crucial moments in the characters’ lives. Ursula’s identity undergoes such changes and becomes firmly established as a Brangwen woman.https://journals.openedition.org/lawrence/3893identityhome chronotopethreshold chronotopetemporalspatialstatic |
| spellingShingle | Marina Ragachewskaya The Chronotope of Home in The Rainbow: Place, Time and Identity Études Lawrenciennes identity home chronotope threshold chronotope temporal spatial static |
| title | The Chronotope of Home in The Rainbow: Place, Time and Identity |
| title_full | The Chronotope of Home in The Rainbow: Place, Time and Identity |
| title_fullStr | The Chronotope of Home in The Rainbow: Place, Time and Identity |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Chronotope of Home in The Rainbow: Place, Time and Identity |
| title_short | The Chronotope of Home in The Rainbow: Place, Time and Identity |
| title_sort | chronotope of home in the rainbow place time and identity |
| topic | identity home chronotope threshold chronotope temporal spatial static |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/lawrence/3893 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marinaragachewskaya thechronotopeofhomeintherainbowplacetimeandidentity AT marinaragachewskaya chronotopeofhomeintherainbowplacetimeandidentity |