The figure “teacher-writer” by J. Williams: novel “Stoner”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31861/pytlit2020.102.112Keywords:
university mission, writer, professor, higher educational institution, teaching methods, John Williams, “Stoner model”Abstract
The realization of the paradigm “teacher-writer” in the interpretation of American professor and writer John Williams has been researched. The comparison of the author’s biography with the image of the protagonist of the novel – Stoner – revealed that the latter is the prototype of the writer. Along with the evolution development of the main character William Stoner, we have followed the improvement of his teaching methods which was reflected on the pages of the novel. The reader’s attention is logically focused on the main issues, such as the war theme and the mission of the university. It was shown how political events (World Wars I and II) consistently influenced the functioning of the educational institution having direct impact on the behavior of the studenthood. The author puts forward his own concept of the real nature of an academic institution thus defining three university models. The first model – “the Stoner model” – renders a closed institution which cluster the chosen ones in order to implement ideal concepts of scientific activity; the second – “the Finch model” – demonstrates an open institution which realizes its educational and spiritual activities for an appropriate reward; the third model, knows as “Masters model”, sees a university as a shelter for incompetent people and elderly unfulfilled personalities. The conclusions lies in the notion of “perfect education” witch should be specific for any given epoch. For instance, according to J. William’s novel, new realia demand of university to renew its concepts and priorities, the lack of which, in its turn, reasons the logic of the conflict between the past and the present, and this is what the character of William Stoner systematically faces, apparently reflecting the experience of the author himself.
References
Antsyiferova, O. (2008). Universitetskii roman: zhizn' i zakony zhanra [Campus Novel: Life and The Iaws of The Genre]. Voprosy literatury, no. 4. pp. 264–295. (in Russian).
Belmaz, Y. (2010). Profesiina pidhotovka vykladachiv vyshchoï shkoly u Velykii Brytaniï ta SShA [Professional Training of High School Teachers in Great Britain and the USA. Horlivka : HDPIIM, 304 p. (in Ukrainian).
Williams, J. (2019). Stouner [Stoner]. Translated from English by Y. Gubarev. Kharkiv : Ranok, Fabula, 352 p. (in Ukrainian).
Zubrytska, M. (ed.) (2002). Ideia universytetu. Antolohiia [The idea of the university. Anthology]. Lviv : Litopys, 304 p. (in Ukrainian).
Nietzsche, F. (2013). Polnoe sobranie sochinenii. V 13 tomakh. T. 1, ch. 2. Nesvoevremennye razmyshleniia. Iz naslediia 1872–1873 gg. [Complete works. In 13 volumes. Vol. 1. Part 2. Untimely reflections. From the legacy of 1872–1873]. Translated from German. Moscow : Kul'turnaia revoliutsiia, pp. 333–432. (in Russian).
Baty, D. (2012). 10 pisatelei-professorov: gde prepodaiut Umberto Eko, Orkhan Pamuk i Salman Rushdi? [10 Writer Professors: Where Do Umberto Eco, Orhan Pamuk and Salman Rushdie Teach?] Theory & Practice. URL : https://theoryandpractice.ru/posts/4571-10-pisateley-professorov-gde-prepodayut-umberto-eko-orkhan-pamuk-i-salman-rushdi (accessed: 11 October 2020). (in Russian).
Clark, M. (2017). Listen to the Sound of the Quiet American: John Williams’s Stoner. Orbit: A Journal of American Literature, vol. 5, iss. 2, pp. 1–23. https://doi.org/10.16995/orbit.210
Grey, T. (2019). The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel: John Williams and Stoner. Financial times, 11 January. URL: https://www.ft.com/content/573d6466-f7be-11e8-a154-2b65ddf314e9 (accessed: 11 October 2020).
Kalinchuk, D. (2019). The Changing Role of the University in the Novel Stoner Written by John Edward Williams. ΛΌГOΣ. Mystetstvo naukovoï dumky, no. 4, pp. 143–144.
Matek, L. and Poljak Rehlicki, J. (2018). The (Im)Possibility of Academic Integrity in John williams’s Stoner. Focus: Papers in English Literary and Cultural Studies, no. 1, pp. 57–71.
Morelli, A. (2019). Notazioni su mondo universitario e libertà di ricerca e di insegnamento a partire da Stoner di John Williams. Dirittifondamentali.it, Fascicolo 2, pp. 1–16.
Niemeier, H. (2019). A good writer is hard to find. The New Criterion, vol. 37, no. 10, p. 77. URL: https://newcriterion.com/issues/2019/6/a-good-writer-is-hard-to-find (accessed: 11 October 2020).
Prendergast, A. (2010). Sixteen years after his death, not-so-famoust novelist John Williams is finding his audience. Westword, 3 November. URL: https://www.westword.com/news/sixteen-years-after-his-death-not-so-famous-novelist-john-williams-is-finding-his-audience-5110462 (accessed: 11 October 2020).
Reimann, P. (2019). Mrs. Stoner Speaks: An Interview with Nancy Gardner Williams. The Paris Review, 20 February. URL: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/02/20/mrs-stoner-speaks-an-interview-with-nancy-gardner-williams/ (accessed: 11 October 2020).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Kateryna Kalynych
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.