Literary Voices Of Martin Amis - 1907 Words

Martin Amis, who turns out to be a celebrity after the controversies and criticism he met with over his personal life and the alleged gender- bias, is one of the most significant literary voices of the contemporary period. His narratives, oscillating between realism and postmodernism, present the bitter truths of modern capitalist society. British government under the rule of Margaret Thatcher shifted its interest from the progress of the Welfare state to privatization of business, marketing and consumerism which gave a rapid increase to commercialization. As the government policies change, media and advertising began to aggrandize free market and individual entrepreneurship where greed has become the prime motive. Amis deals with the†¦show more content†¦But this deceptive and mendacious image aims at befooling people because it can be obtained only through its false signifiers. Money is one of the best examples presenting such devastating and self- deceiving impact of mode rn celebrity culture on human beings. Image conscious people, in order to attain affluence, high status and fame which are only appearance not actual success, depend on the conspicuous consumption of materialistic signifiers. The concepts of material consumption, the false appearance and money are interrelated. Commenting on the source of inspiration, Peter Childs remarks that â€Å"it suggests through the increasingly intense popular cults of celebrity and fame, to the commercial greed of 1980s† (44). The novel reflects the spirit of the Zeitgeist. It premises on the loss of self, integrity, authenticity and self- restrain. As a critique of capitalism, it satirizes the growing interest in free market and privatization. The tempting and inducing strategies of free market economy have largely changed people’s lives and their way of thinking. In the absence of self- faith, morality and authenticity, the true value of life declined in the bleak world of late capitalist Western civilization. Set in 1981 and published in 1984, Money is a story of John Self, the narrator and protagonist whose life is made of â€Å"fast food, sex shows, space games, slot machines, video nasties, nude mags, drink, pubs, fighting, television, handjobs† (67).Show MoreRelatedNarrative Unreliability in Martin Amis Money1686 Words   |  7 PagesIn Money: A Suicide Note Martin Amis describes the life of John Self, an extremely successful filmmaker of TV adverts who takes part in the materialist game characterising the society of the 1980s. The protagonist is addicted to the 20th century, where he leads a careless life based on a daily abundance of drugs, alcohol, promiscuous sex, handjobs and the porn industry. However, this addiction leaves its marks on the body and character of John Self. His physical as well as social health slowly deteriorateRead MoreThe Only Way Out in Richard Miller ´s The Dark Night of the Soul 1181 Words   |  5 Pagesviolent changes our culture is undergoing. Miller through-out the essay describes his grievances of the loss of importance our society has placed on literature. Millers essay compares many other literary works to prove his point. He compares the following: the shootings in Columbine, The Information by Martin Amis, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauers, Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes, Joining the Liars Club by Mary Karr, and the experiment in institutional autobiography. In this essay we willRead MorePostmodernism in Literature5514 Words   |  23 Pagesoften a parody of this quest. This distrust of totalizing mechanisms extends even to the author; thus postmodern writers often celebrate chance over craft and employ metafiction to undermine the authors univocal control (the control of only one voice). The distinction between high and low culture is also attacked with the employment of pastiche, the combination of multiple cultural elements including subjects and genres not previously deemed fit for literature. A list of postmodern authors oftenRead MoreJeanette Winterson Boating for Beginners3918 Words   |  16 Pagespartly because of the self-consciously allusive and intertextual manner of her writing which engages productively not only with the Bible but with the work of literary critics of the bible such as Harold Bloom and Northon Frye†. Indeed, Jeannette Winterson puts on stage famous people like, Martin Amis (22), an English novelist, son of Kingsley Amis who was part of the group called the Angry young men; Cliff Richards, a pop song signer of the 1960s (28); Joan of Ark, a national heroine of France and aRead MoreLiterary Group in British Poetry5631 Words   |  23 Pagesand any rhyme included is merely ornamental. [edit]The Anglo-Norman period and the Later Middle Ages See also: Anglo-Norman literature With the Norman conquest of England, beginning in 1111 the Anglo-Saxon language rapidly diminished as a written literary language. The new aristocracy spoke French, and this became the standard language of courts, parliament, and polite society. As the invaders integrated, their language and literature mingled with that of the natives: the French dialect of the upper