Mavis Gallant, "Rue de Lille" (1985)
Some notes by students on ideology and simulacra (story's postmodern aspects), March 15th 2004:
1. Casey, Stacey, Heidi
- In the first two paragraphs the couple talks about moving but they don't really have the intention of moving. Their environment doesn't really allow them to actually move. Most societies want them to progress but they can't so it's kind of like an imaginary perception on their part that they could have a chance of moving to a better place.
p. 151: "She had been trained to believe . . . she wasn't idle"
- She was brought up to believe that one should always be busy but she pretends to be busy when she is really just bored.
2. Stephanie, Kelly, David, Marie.
"Viewing me at close range, as if I were a novel she had to translate" (152)
- suggests the simulacrum, since the narrator compares his life to a novel. A novel is a fiction, in this sense his life is represented as passively lived. He is being translated like a novel, not actually living. This is false consciousness: he is describing his life in a detached manner. Some else is acting on it, but not him.
"Because of the energy crisis, daylight saving had been established" (153)
- daylight saving in itself is a form of simulacrum; changing time to change the amount of sunlight is not 'real.' "and they needed sedation to help them through the day": simulacrum, since they would rather live detached; manipulate it so the 'real' is further away.
2. Rena, Janis, Constance
p. 152: first para. discussing the notice of her death
- her life is defined by what she did and who she was associated with
- those people are also defined by what they do
- these definitions are superficial and don't describe what they really are
- they view each other as an extension of their occupation (foot of 152: she looks at him as a translated work) which is their only sense of self; this construct is false
p. 153 last para.
- he watches himself on TV, which is how he sees his whole life
- his self image is defined by his portrayal through the media (not real)
Document created March 16th 2004