In 1988 the author John Fuller had discovered a manuscript of Stephen Spender´s novel which was called The Temple and was dated 1929. Spender originally wrote this novel in the late 1920s in order to tell his life during his student days. “He sent several copies to friends, among them Auden and Isherwood to get their views about it, and a copy to Geoffrey Faber, his publisher, who pointed out that there could be no question of publishing a novel, which, besides being libelous, was pornographic according to the law at that time.” (Spender 1988 x) Hence, Spender’s work was not published and fell into oblivion. Over all those years Spender forgot that in the financial crisis he had sold his manuscripts to Texas in 1962 However, in 1988 John Fuller discovered the original manuscript and encouraged Spender to revise his work and to publish it. As he did so, in the introduction of The Temple he wrote the following: “This is an autobiographical novel in which the author tries to report truthfully on his experiences in the summer of 1929.” (Spender 1988 xi) In the following I will try to analyze whether The Temple really could be classified as an autobiographical novel or whether we are dealing with any other type of text.
The main question that we have to ask then is, what is autobiography or rather what is an autobiographical novel and what is the difference between those two types of texts? Is it even possible to define autobiography or the term autobiographical novel? When we look those terms up in various dictionaries, for autobiography they mostly all have in common one rather short definition that on the first view explains the term very well: “Autobiography is the history of a person’s life as written by himself.” (Porter Abbot 1988 598) The term autobiographical novel in most dictionaries is not even listed, therefore I will at first concentrate on the definition of autobiography.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Definition of Autobiography
3. Life of Stephen Spender and The Temple
4. Theoretical Framework by Philippe Lejeune
5. Analysis of The Temple
6. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This academic paper aims to determine whether Stephen Spender's novel The Temple can be classified as a pure autobiography or if it must be categorized as an autobiographical novel, based on literary theory and biographical parallels.
- The distinction between autobiography and the autobiographical novel.
- The life of Stephen Spender as reflected in his fictional narratives.
- The application of Philippe Lejeune's theoretical framework on autobiography.
- The role of fictional elements and character identity in autobiographical writing.
Excerpt from the Book
Stephen Spender’s The Temple as an Autobiographical Novel
In 1988 the author John Fuller had discovered a manuscript of Stephen Spender´s novel which was called The Temple and was dated 1929. Spender originally wrote this novel in the late 1920s in order to tell his life during his student days. “He sent several copies to friends, among them Auden and Isherwood to get their views about it, and a copy to Geoffrey Faber, his publisher, who pointed out that there could be no question of publishing a novel, which, besides being libelous, was pornographic according to the law at that time.” (Spender 1988 x) Hence, Spender’s work was not published and fell into oblivion. Over all those years Spender forgot that in the financial crisis he had sold his manuscripts to Texas in 1962 However, in 1988 John Fuller discovered the original manuscript and encouraged Spender to revise his work and to publish it. As he did so, in the introduction of The Temple he wrote the following: “This is an autobiographical novel in which the author tries to report truthfully on his experiences in the summer of 1929.” (Spender 1988 xi) In the following I will try to analyze whether The Temple really could be classified as an autobiographical novel or whether we are dealing with any other type of text.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the discovery of the manuscript and the central research question regarding the genre classification of the novel.
2. Definition of Autobiography: Examines standard dictionary definitions and identifies the inherent problems in applying them to fictionalized life writing.
3. Life of Stephen Spender and The Temple: Compares biographical data of the author with the narrative events and character representations found within the novel.
4. Theoretical Framework by Philippe Lejeune: Introduces and details the theoretical criteria required for a text to be defined as an autobiography.
5. Analysis of The Temple: Applies Lejeune’s criteria to the novel to demonstrate why it fails to meet the strict requirements of a pure autobiography.
6. Conclusion: Summarizes findings, confirming that the work constitutes an autobiographical novel due to its integration of fictional elements and character invention.
Keywords
Stephen Spender, The Temple, Autobiography, Autobiographical Novel, Philippe Lejeune, Literary Theory, Fiction, Identity, Narrator, Character, Biography, 20th Century Literature, Oxford, Narrative, Prose
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this paper?
The paper examines the literary genre of Stephen Spender's work, The Temple, specifically analyzing whether it qualifies as an autobiography or an autobiographical novel.
What are the primary themes discussed?
Key themes include the definition of autobiography, the intersection of real-life experiences and fiction, the identity of the narrator, and the use of literary theory to classify narratives.
What is the central research question?
The researcher aims to determine if The Temple can be classified as a truthful autobiography or if it functions as a work of fiction based on the author's life.
Which methodology is applied?
The study utilizes a comparative analysis between the author's documented biography and the textual content, supported by the theoretical framework established by Philippe Lejeune.
What is covered in the main section?
The main part of the work covers the life of Stephen Spender, the analysis of his character "Paul," and a critical evaluation of Lejeune’s four criteria for autobiography.
Which keywords define this work?
Key terms include Stephen Spender, Autobiography, Autobiographical Novel, Philippe Lejeune, and Narrative Identity.
How does the author handle the problem of identity in The Temple?
The author uses an implicit, omniscient narrator and gives fictional names to real-life figures, which creates a distinction between the historical author and the protagonist.
Why does Lejeune’s theory suggest The Temple is not a pure autobiography?
Because the identity of the author, narrator, and protagonist are not perfectly aligned, and the author introduced fictional elements and invented characters into the story.
How is the relationship between the author and characters structured?
Spender uses memories of real-life friends like W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood but modifies their traits to fit the requirements of fiction and hindsight.
- Quote paper
- Nina Jungmann (Author), 2011, Stephen Spender's "The Temple" as an autobiographical novel, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/173119
