Dis-placed sites/sights and the configuration of otherness´ space in Ian Mcewan´s Atonement and in Joe Wright´s film adaptation

Abstract

The problematization of dichotomies in a plural, heterogeneous,and contradictory world, whose socio-artistic-culturalborders are questioned and confronted, motivates the artist tolook for aesthetical regimes that may appropriately face thesequestions. Metafiction, as an intentionally auto-referential andauto-reflexive aesthetical phenomenon, is adequate to cope withthe requirements of contemporary art. Associated with parody,metafiction produces an artistic form that asks for a sophisticatedreading and also demands new critical and theoretical approachesthat could deal with such complexity. For the presentanalyses, we select the scene of the fountain in Ian McEwan’snovel Atonement and its correspondent in the film adaptation,by the director Joe Wright. With the objective of reflecting aboutthe dis-placed site and sight of the character-writer Briony Tallisand her consequent effort to perform her auto-justification, weinvestigate the elaboration of metafictional narratives in the selectedmaterial and we notice that the conflict between ethicsand aesthetics results in the configuration of the other’s space.