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Revisiting Noah’S Ark in Julian Barnes’ A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters Cover

Revisiting Noah’S Ark in Julian Barnes’ A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters

By: Liana Muthu  
Open Access
|May 2014

Abstract

Considering that intertextuality is the text’s property of being connected to other previous texts, Julian Barnes’ novel, “A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters”, rewrites the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark. Besides the narration accounted in the Bible, new elements are encountered here: e.g. the Ark wasn’t a simple vessel, but a small fleet; Noah butchered the animals from the Ark, animals selected initially to be saved from the Deluge; the woodworms, creatures that symbolize decay, were also present on the Ark, etc. Then, new versions of the Biblical story, all having connections with Noah, the Ark and the Sea are present. Therefore, Julian Barnes fructifies Noah’s story, readjusting it to other spaces and historic times.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/rjes-2014-0012 | Journal eISSN: 2286-0428 | Journal ISSN: 1584-3734
Language: English
Page range: 98 - 102
Published on: May 1, 2014
Published by: West University of Timisoara
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2014 Liana Muthu, published by West University of Timisoara
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.