Spectre Of Traditian In Peter Ackroyd's London Novels

Peter Ackroyd(1949-)is an important writer in the contemporary British literary world.He has been tagged with many labels,such as "postmodern writer","London writer" and "cultural conservative".Among these labels,Ackroyd makes it clear that he is an authentic London writer.Born in London,the writer has not left the city for most of his life,and most of his works,including novels and biographies,are related to London.London is not just a background in his works,but a living organism or"protagonist".Ackroyd is a very unique presence among contemporary London writers.His London novels not only have a portrayal of capitalist economic,political,and ideological forces in contemporary London,but are more of a look back at London and English cultural traditions.Looking back is not simply retrospection or nostalgia,but an active integration of London and English cultural traditions into the construction of modernity.It is a creative vision in the tide of spatial interpretation of contemporary cities.Ackroyd clearly expresses his obsession with tradition in his non-fiction works,such as biographies and the volumes of the history of England,and in his London novels he repeatedly emphasizes his views on tradition:tradition is not a static and rigid past,but a dynamic and ever-changing continuum from the past to the present,and this continuum shapes London sensibility.By interpreting Ackroyd's London novels from the aspects of literary tradition,architectural tradition and religious tradition,this dissertation proposes that the spectral past in Ackroyd's London novels is tradition and tradition shapes London sensibility by acting on London and Londoners.Ackroyd believes that tradition is the spectral existence in London sensibility and Englishness.London and Londoners need to return to tradition.The first chapter mainly analyzes the spectral functions of literary tradition in shaping London sensibility involving the healing function,dialogic function and recreating function.The novel Chatterton conveys the healing function of literary tradition.In the novel,the juxtaposition of three narrative clues in different periods constitutes a circular narrative mode in which linear time is broken.The writer expresses in this circular narrative that the power of English literary tradition lies in creative adaptations rather than creation.Writers and artists in the city heal their exhausted inspiration by reproducing literary tradition,and lonely people in the city gain the courage to continue living by replicating tradition.At the same time,literary London cures people's anxiety.In the novel people can always get out of the dilemma and restart a new life with the help of tradition.Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem conveys the dialogic function of the literary tradition.In the novel,the self of the city dweller and the identity of the city are intruded by the spectre of literary tradition and become uncertain.They are stuck in the relationship of dialogue at all times.Quite clearly,the representative characters with open subjectivities in the novel are Dan Leno,Elizabeth Cree and the Golem.The representative urban spaces of the dialogic city are Limehouse in the East End of London that Ackroyd always focuses on,and the Reading Room of the British Museum full of dialogue,mystery and spectral power.Besides,Ackroyd uses the dialogue between different literary trends to deconstruct Victorian realist writing and the scientific writing of naturalism,because he is more inclined to the irrational power of London sensibility.In essence,the dialogic self and dialogic city are both manifestations of London's heterogeneity.In The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein:A Novel,Ackroyd makes use of the literary re-creation space of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein:or,The Modern Prometheus to recreate the literary concepts of imagination and doppelganger.He believes that the imagination with infinite vitality should be the imagination of Cockney visionaries.Such imagination is not a manifestation of individuality,but a concern for London and Londoners.Meanwhile,the doppelganger that is the incarnation of London's heterogeneity is not only the aggregation of good and evil in traditional stories,but also the blending of imagination and reason.Therefore,with different functions of literary tradition,London has become a literary city full of imagination by constantly returning to literary tradition.It has both beautiful and terrifying qualities and the nature of uncertainty and division.Literary London heals Londoners' desperate souls and helps them start over.The second chapter explores the spectral power of architectural tradition in shaping London sensibility.It mainly involves the confining and regenerating power of prison tradition,the heterotopic power of church tradition,the repressive and redemptive power of house tradition.These opposing forces of tradition have shaped London's heterogeneity.Ackroyd believes that,though a place like a prison,a church,a house is destroyed and restored,the spirit of the place will never be lost but destined to recur in the name of "genius loci" or "territorial imperative".Behind the "genius loci" or "territorial imperative" is London's communal memory and tradition.Therefore,in these places,the same story will repeat again and again.It is called"chronotopic" spectre.Meanwhile,in these London novels,the linear time is deconstructed and the image of circle recurs,both of which indicates that London will always return to the tradition.London in The Great Fire of London is a city of Foucauldian prison.Londoners are trapped in the city's invisible prison.The confining and disciplinary power of prison tradition is everywhere.In the story,the old wing of the prison unleashes evil force,but it also represents an irrational force of regeneration from the past.Therefore,the prison as the incarnation of tradition is both the birthplace of evil force and the source of regeneration.The same is true of the recurring "fire" in London history.The fire destroyed the city and regenerated it.In Hawksmoor,the seven churches connect the past and the present.The eternal recurrence of the murders blurs the line between past and present.Historical times converge at the churches with the power of tradition.In this way,churches become the centre of opposing forces of London sensibility.The church unleashes the heterotopic power projecting the unbearable urban reality.As a result,when London returns to the tradition,it changes the tradition.The haunted house in The House of Doctor Dee implies the repressive and redemptive power of architectural tradition.In the postmodern Gothic chronotope of the haunted house,Doctor Dee desires to conquer time for eternal life,in the meantime,contemporary figure Matthew tries to explore the secrets of the past by overcoming time.The house as the incarnation of tradition represses the traumatic experiences of its dwellers and the city,but it also releases the power of redemption bringing Matthew,Doctor Dee and the city new life,which is a sign of London's eternity.Ackroyd believes that both individuals and the city need spiritual growth by the way of accepting the visionary reality that is more real than physical reality.Therefore,under the opposing power of architectural tradition,London's prisons,churches,and haunted houses in the eternal recurrence pattern have become disciplinary heterotopias and traumatic repressors,but at the same time they also reveal trauma and provide regenerative and redemptive power.Chapter Three discusses the spectral spirit of the Catholic tradition in shaping London sensibility.It mainly includes pre-Reformation cultural spirit,theatrical spirit and enchanted spirit.Ackroyd notes that the incompleteness of Henry ?'s religious reforms has made the influence of Catholicism on London and English culture uninterrupted.The writer himself opposes the Reformation and London in his novels is essentially a Catholic city.But the Catholic tradition cannot be understood solely from the perspective of religious doctrines.Ackroyd's Catholicism has a cultural rather than theological essence.Compared with the Protestant culture,Catholic culture is sensual,irrational and visionary.London's heterogeneity is constructed on this spirituality of the Catholic tradition.In Hawksmoor,Nicholas Dyer revolts against the religious culture in the 18th Century to express his occult faith.He believes in mysticism and supernatural power.In The Clerkenwell Tales,the writer focuses on the London life in the late medieval period under the guise of political conspiracy stories.He values medieval Catholic culture.As for the theatrical spirit,Ackroyd treats theatricality as the main manifestation of London's heterogeneity.At root,theatricality is considered to be one of the cultural logics of Catholicism,originating from Catholic rituals and Mass.Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem depicts the Victorian theatres,actors and performances to illustrate that the heterogeneity of London is rooted in the lower and popular cultural forms instead of the upper-class elite cultural forms.In addition,theatricality is manifested in London's urban life blending the religious and the secular,the joyful and the violent.As for the enchanted spirit,enchantment in Ackroyd's London novels is that the supernatural events and phenomena entangled with spectres repeatedly appear in certain areas,but cannot be explained by reason and logic.It is a Catholic mindset and displaced Catholicism.The enchanted recurrence pattern represents the eternity of London.In Ackroyd's several London novels,the sanctification of the recurring serial killings exactly exposes the dark sensibility of London.In The House of Doctor Dee,occult figures and events recur.Occultism favours that human should get rid of the physical bondage to rise to the spiritual level to achieve eternal life.The Gothic Revival of the 19th century can be considered as the voice of Catholic culture.In this sense,Ackroyd's Gothic representation of London transmits his nostalgia for the unknown history and the forgotten Catholic past.They have never disappeared,but have become the spectre of constant intrusion.Therefore,the cultural spirit of the Catholic tradition makes London an eternally enchanted city with pre-Reformation cultural spirit and theatrical spirit.Spectres haunt London and Londoners in Ackroyd's London novels.The spectral intrusion of tradition is the constant theme of his London novels.The different functions,power and spirit of tradition construct the heterogeneity of tradition itself.Tradition that is repeatedly reinterpreted spectrally exists in London sensibility.In Ackroyd's London novels,the essential relationship between tradition and London sensibility is:tradition has worked on London and Londoners,and through this process,London sensibility is shaped by tradition.It is concluded from the above three chapters that tradition makes London eternal and heterogeneous.It is the visionary interpretation of London sensibility,for Ackroyd insists that the rational interpretation of the city is insufficient.Specifically,this eternity lies in the eternal recurrence,for the linear time is deconstructed.It indicates that London transcends the confines of time.London is always returning to tradition,but in the process of return,it will change the tradition,for London is constantly gaining new meanings.Another implication of eternity is that the power of tradition endows London and Londoners with the potential to continually rise anew from destruction.This heterogeneity contains three connotations.Firstly,tradition determines the uncertain and split nature of London and Londoners.Secondly,in the London sensibility shaped by tradition,opposing forces are compatible.Thirdly,London's heterogeneity is rooted in irrationalism and lower and popular cultural forms of such places as the East End of London,rather than upper-class elite cultural forms.Therefore,Ackroyd's view of tradition not only reflects his cultural responsibility and efforts to safeguard the national culture but also provides a reference path for urban development in the crisis of modernity.