Parallel Bloodlines: Variations on the Contemporary Family Novel

The dissertation concerns the study of the family novel, understood here as the story of a family which spans two or more generations, and which is characterised by a series of recurring elements, in themes as well as in structure. As shown by the relatively sparse but pioneering studies on the subject, the family novel as a literary genre is a problematic (as well as necessary) category which deserves further scholarly attention. My research consists in a three-fold comparative analysis: I plan to take a closer look at works from three contemporary novelists and use two novels of each as case studies. The primary sources would therefore amount to six novels, as I intend to argue that these novelists are carrying out a personal meditation on this literary genre, and that the six novels which are to be analysed can be read as phases of a gradual exercise in taking apart a certain facet of the family novel. Taking a closer look at a peculiar and frequently slippery genre such as the family novel provides us with the opportunity to test how these texts naturally interact and deal with the very same themes and preoccupations which characterize most of contemporary literature. The family novel, in fact, inevitably tackles such issues as the relationship with materiality (i.e. how is family heritage transmitted?); the question of connectivity and authenticity, in the sense of how today’s interpersonal relationships are developed); finally, confronting temporality, as it clearly emerges from the conflictual stances the protagonists of these novels have with history, the past and how it shapes the present.