The Study Of The Tension Narrative Of Science And Humanity In McEwan’s Later Novels

Ian Russell McEwan,as one of the hottest writers in contemporary British literature,has been writing continuously since the publication of his first work in 1975.In his first collection of short stories,"The First Love,The Last Ritual",the opening chapter "Solid Geometry" involves scientific elements,which is considered to be McEwan’s mature work "The Child in Time" also discusses quantum mechanics and relativity,and "Enduring Love" also mentions the scientific knowledge of biology and psychology.This is not unrelated to the long-standing "Two Cultures" dispute in Western society and the trend of popular science writing in the1980 s.After this century,McEwan continued to expand his thinking on science and humanities,placing the background of the story in the geographical space of London,where science and technology were highly developed,neuroscience in "Saturday",and "Solar" in Physics and atmospheric ecology,artificial intelligence in "Machines Like Me",the penetration of these scientific elements caters to the development of society,and reflects McEwan’s thinking about science from a humanistic perspective as a writer.The long-term debate of "two cultures" in the Western society has promoted the literary creation of the British literary circle and the interaction of cultural concepts.McEwan’s works not only reflect the echoes of the debate of "two cultures",but also run through the reflection of British literati on the discourse of scientific and technological progress.Science has the same mission as novels,that is,the exploration of human nature.Science and humanities are not mutually exclusive,or even complementary,so McEwan strives to incorporate scientific elements into many of his novels.McEwan pushed the boundaries between literature and science,incorporating scientific theories into his novels and linking them to his characters and storylines.This article will combine Ian McEwan’s novels "Saturday","Solar","Machines Like Me" and "My Purple Fragrant Novel" to discuss the following question: In the 2020 s,in the tension between science and the humanities How to break out of the mechanical rational absurdity? When human beings gradually lose their subjectivity,and the subject of meaning generation is gradually doubted,where should the narrative go?The thesis is divided into five parts.The introduction section begins with an overview of McEwan’s major works and life,and examines the current state of research on McEwan at home and abroad,introducing the research methodology and the research questions of this thesis.The first part of the text summarizes and sorts out the group figures of "scientists" involved in several novels since the new century.These novels are connected together,forming a dynamic connection.These images of the hero "scientists" have the potential to grow with the development of The Times,and are also the basis for the tension conflict between science and humanity of McEwan.The second part discusses the uncertainty of scientific narrative from the perspective of narrative discourse and narrative methods.McEwan not only sets up the conflict of binary opposites in his novels,but also places science and humanity in the same narrative position to discuss the uncertainty of both.The third part explores how the forces of science and humanity interact,reveals the cultural connotation under the great tension of the two,and reveals the aesthetic characteristics of mutual mapping between cognition and reflection.In the epilogue,between the increasing rationalism of different scientific disciplines,McEwan reveals the community of scientists living conditions,and through the presence of human forces,such as poetry,love and literature,to rescue these "scientists" from the rational absurdity.As a writer,McEwan exposes the drawbacks of scientificalism and rationalism in contemporary society through the narrative discourse and strategies of literature.At the same time,he was also influenced by modern science,and adopted a narrative way that broke through the traditional grand narrative--meta-narrative.Not only is there a great tension between science and humanism in the work,but there is also a unity in the interaction between the two in the creation.