An analysis of David Lodge’s "Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses" and "Small World: An Academic Romance" in the light of Friedrich Nietzsche’s "Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None"

Date

2009

Author

Çelik, Sevinç

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The aim of this thesis is to analyse David Lodge’s campus novels Changing Places: A Tale of Two Campuses (1975) and Small World: An Academic Romance (1984) to see how nihilism is dealt with in the modern academic world by the main characters in the novels. The characters will be examined in the light of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None (1883-85). As the prophet Zarathustra in Thus Spoke Zarathustra is the mouthpiece of Nietzsche himself, this thesis aims at studying Lodge’s novels in the light of Nietzsche’s ideas. In this respect, this thesis provides a closer look into Zarathustrian (Nietzschean) concepts of “will to power”, “eternal recurrence” and “overman”, and it reveals to what extent Lodge’s main characters can achieve a full “will to power”, attain a joyful acceptance of “eternal recurrence”, and overcome themselves on the way to becoming “overman”. With the elaboration of these three concepts, this thesis aims to uncover the ways in which Lodge’s main characters recover from the negative effects of futility and depression caused by nihilism in the modern world.

Subject Keywords

English., English literature.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12610968/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/19007

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis