When discussing metaphor, the notion of conceit should also be mentioned. In addition, it is an important element of Winterson’s texts, especially of The PowerBook; its conceit structure is suggested by Reynolds and Noakes as a subject of analysis for a potential reader. The words used by Winterson for this conceit, which are selected (e.g. “icon”) and their multiple meanings highlighted, will be developed further in this book. It is proposed that various semantic fields of the word may be applicable to events of the novel. The theme of storytelling is juxtaposed with “metaphoric narrative structuring” (132).
The author often uses organizing metaphors which permeate the whole text and constitute a linguistic point of departure for stories which are told and re-told. The selection of most frequent metaphors in Winterson’s texts should be mentioned at this point. In Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, the titular orange is the central metaphor of the whole novel. Winterson plays with the associations of the forbidden fruit, but also introduces the idea of “the orange demon” as a signifier of Jeanette’s homosexuality. In The Passion, gambling is an organizing metaphor (Front 159) which may refer to love, as well as language and the titular passion. Ships and voyaging are Winterson’s other types of metaphors which she employs in, for example, Gut Symmetries (Front 189). ←39 | 40→The metaphor of archeology, and time as layers, is used in various texts including Lighthousekeeping, The PowerBook, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Boating for Beginners and Stone Gods. It can be generally observed that Winterson chooses similar types of metaphors and that her usage of metaphors is systematic and repetitive. Even if metaphors vary between works, the way Winterson weaves them into her storytelling may be perceived as similar?
Reynolds and Noakes underline the significance of naming in analyzing Sexing the Cherry. It does not only refer to names of characters but to the very act of giving names to abstract ideas and thus constructing a perception of the world through language, which is pointed out by Winterson in the first chapter of Sexing the Cherry (93). The theoretical background is mentioned when referring to Section 4 of the novel when Jordan, the main character, talks about meeting the Hopi (SC 134–135). The critics refer to Sapir and Whorf who described language as a frame for the universe. As Hopi’s perception of the world excludes past and future, we cannot understand this way of thinking (115). Introducing the Hopi in this book matches the whole structure of the text since Winterson’s main preoccupations are time and language, especially in this novel. Winterson’s attitude to language is said by critics to be an important point of analysis asking: “How does Winterson suggest that language is a physical object?” (96).
Winterson’s first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit clearly outlines her engagement in Hayden White’s discussions concerning the reliability of historical facts,
People like to separate storytelling which is not fact from history which is fact. They do this so that they know what to believe and what not to believe. This is very curious. How is it that no one will believe that whale swallowed Jonah when every day Jonah is swallowing the whale? I can see them now, stuffing down the fishiest of fish tales, and why? Because it is history. Knowing what to believe had its advantages. It built an empire and kept people where they belonged, in the bright realm of the wallet. (92)
Later in this chapter, other statements about history appear, such as “Very often history is a means of denying the past”, “We are all historians in our small way”, “There is an order and balance to be found in stories” (10), “When I look at a history book and think of the imaginative effort it has taken to squeeze this oozing world between two boards and typeset, I am astonished”, “I can put these accounts together and I will not have a seamless wonder but a sandwich laced ←40 | 41→with mustard of my own”. Winterson suggests making our own “sandwiches”, by writing our private stories against the Master Narrative.
On the one hand, Winterson’s works constitute one continuum in which themes, motifs, stories and phrases keep reappearing; on the other hand, the author frequently divides her texts into shorter fragments since she favors breaks in narration. These divisions are usually meaningful and each part of the text constitutes a self-containing entity and can be read and interpreted as a separate piece of writing (the prose poem). In this case, it can be concluded that these shorter fragments are “bricks” for the whole narration, acting as elements of storytelling, although they may seem random and insignificant in action development. These fragments cause retardation of reception which is characteristic for defamiliarization.
Returning to Berlin’s theory of “foxes and hedgehogs” in literature (Onega 8), Winterson proves to be a hedgehog, since her vision of the world and language is consistent and developed further in each of her consecutive texts. This visible repetition of her ideas may be perceived as a refrain and in this case, may also refer to her poetic perception of the world.
Winterson’s unique style poses numerous questions and doubts concerning our perception of what poetry (or prose) is and is not. Winterson’s general interest in boundaries and borderline issues (binary oppositions of male versus female, homosexual versus heterosexual, history versus story) is reflected in the “Wintersonian style” which can be defined as a constant inability to choose between the two media, prose and poetry, which results in her balancing on the boundary between the two, and the consequent stylistic defamiliarization. The way she manages not to fall into one of these categories should be further examined.
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2 “I’m Telling You Stories”. Storytelling and Poetry in The Passion
The first novel in Winterson’s career which demonstrates prose-poetry in-betweenness is The Passion. This view is confirmed by numerous authors; one of the most renowned, Susan Onega, points out that “critics unanimously agree that The Passion is a landmark in the literary evolution of Jeanette Winterson. It illustrates a tendency to move away from the autobiographical, realistically set comedy of her first novel and towards a much more overtly fantastic and lyrical kind of fiction” (“History Rewritten in a Postmodern Novel: Opposed Views on History in Jeanette Winterson’s The Passion”). This is undoubtedly correct, and the connection between the fantastic and the lyrical merits greater emphasis. This chapter discusses these two aspects and demonstrates that they are inextricably linked in The Passion.
The lyrical quality of this novel is also created by references to T.S. Eliot’s poetry. As David Lodge argues, references to modern poetry “are anachronistically put into the mouths of the characters with no discernible reason except to contribute a spurious touch of class to the discourse” (qtd. in Onega). This chapter is going to question Lodge’s statement and show that references to T.S. Eliot are in fact intricately interwoven into the plot of the novel and its numerous stories.
It can be said that Winterson’s texts are re-readings and rewritings of T.S. Eliot. Numerous critics highlight this fact by merely stating that Eliot’s presence is visible in her works. I have never considered these statements to be satisfactory since these claims are comparable to the cliché concerning Eliot’s interest in Symbolism. What is missing in criticism is a detailed analysis of Winterson’s works in relation to Eliot’s texts; it is required to determine, firstly, how T.S. Eliot’s texts contribute to the composition of Winterson’s works, and secondly, how she engages in the dialogue with these texts. One may even pose a more