Experimenting with the short story: formal challenges and generic ambiguity in the fiction of Michèle Roberts

• Autores: Patricia Bastida Rodríguez
• Localización: The Short Story in English [Recurso electrónico]: crossing boundaries / coord. por Gema Soledad Castillo García, María Rosa Cabellos Castilla, Juan Antonio Sánchez Jiménez, Vincent Carlisle Espínola, 2006, ISBN 8481387096, págs. 97-110
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The aim of this paper is to assess the role played by formal experimentation in the fiction of the British feminist writer Michèle Roberts, focusing particularly on the crossing of boundaries between the novel and the short story that can be observed in much of her writing. Though best-known in the literary scene as a novelist, Roberts has also produced a considerable output of short stories which reflect her growing interest in formal sophistication and experimentation. The analysis of several stories included in her two collections During Mother's Absence (1993) and Playing Sardines (2001) will be undertaken here, together with that of three of her novels, The Book of Mrs. Noah (1987), Flesh and Blood (1994) and Impossible Saints (1997), characterised by the presence of short stories as part of the narrative line. The implications of this study will lead to a better understanding of Roberts's perception of both the novel and the short story genres, as well as to interesting insights about her evolution as a writer.