Free of Inhibitions and Full of Pleasure: The Image of Europe in the Works of James Salter

• Thesis title in Czech: Bez zábran a plná rozkoše: Obraz Evropy v díle Jamese Saltera
• Thesis title in English: Free of Inhibitions and Full of Pleasure: The Image of Europe in the Works of James Salter
• Key words: James Salter, americká beletrie, Evropa v americké beletrii, modernismus
• English key words: James Salter, American fiction, Europe in American fiction, modernism
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2014/2015
• Thesis type: Bachelor's thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (21-UALK)
• Supervisor: Stephan Delbos, M.F.A., Ph.D.
• Author: hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept.
• Date of registration: 02.07.2014
• Date of assignment: 09.07.2014
• Administrator's approval: not processed yet
• Confirmed by Study dept. on: 01.09.2014
• Date and time of defence: 07.09.2015 00:00
• Date of electronic submission: 10.08.2015
• Date of proceeded defence: 07.09.2015
• Submitted/finalized: committed by student and finalized
• Opponents: doc. Erik Sherman Roraback, D.Phil.

Guidelines

The aim of this thesis is to explore the work of the contemporary American writer James Salter, mainly his novels A Sport and a Pastime (1967), Light Years (1975), Solo Faces (1979), and All That Is (2013), while also taking into account some of his non-fiction writing – his memoir Burning the Days (1997) and There and Then: The Travel Writing of James Salter (2005). Although none of Salter's books have been best-sellers, readers and critics alike have repeatedly praised his work, while academia has curiously neglected his achievements, evident in the fact that there is a lack of full-length critical studies of Salter's work, compared to other writers of his milieu, like Richard Ford or Philip Roth.
The focus of this thesis is the idealized image of Europe in Salter's work. Europe is presented as a place of freedom, culture, tradition, romance and possibilities, to which all of Salter's main characters are drawn, often at life’s turning points. This thesis will explore the motivations of Salter's characters for the journey, their expectations, as well as the actual experience, and the impact of their experience in Europe. A Sport and a Pastime shows France as a place of freedom and romance, as it focuses on Dean trying to self-educate through travel and a passionate romance with a French girl after dropping out of Yale. In Light Years, which hints at a disillusionment with American culture, Europe figures greatly from the beginning as a symbol of fine tastes, culture, luxury and freedom. In Solo Faces, the European mountains are the greatest challenge in the mountain-climbing world, and Rand accepts the challenge to find fame on the peaks of Europe. All That Is maps the publishing industry in America and Europe, lauding the European literary tradition.
Europe, especially Paris, has long been considered significant for literature. This aspect of the portrait of Europe will also be attended to, particularly in connection to The World Republic of Letters by Pascale Casanova, which outlines the international literary scene – including a section on the expatriate literature in Paris – and its inner workings. Salter's works are also concerned with the literary scene and expatriate artists, therefore it will be interesting to compare Casanova's model with the literary world of Salter's novels. Furthermore, her theory about the mechanisms of success or failure may shed light on Salter’s critical obscurity.
Through close readings of Salter’s works, with a focus on the image of Europe and its effect on his protagonists, and with attention to theoretical considerations of the importance of place in literary production and interpretation, this thesis will come to a greater understanding of the various themes in Salter's fiction and his importance as an American writer.

References

Bilmes, Alex. “James Salter – the Greatest Writer You've Never Read”. Esquire. 23 May 2013. 6 May 2014 <http://www.esquire.co.uk/culture/features/3943/how-james-salter-freezes-time/>.
Casanova, Pascale. The World Republic of Letters. Trans. M. B. Debevoise. Cambridge: Harvard University Library Press, 2007.
Dowie, William. “A Final Glory: The Novels of James Salter”. College English Vol. 50, No. 1 (Jan. 1988): 74-88.
Hirsch, Edward. “James Salter, The Art of Fiction No. 133”. The Paris Review No. 127 (Summer 1993). 5 May 2014 <http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1930/the-art-of-fiction-no-133-james-salter>.
Howard, Gerald. "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes." Nation Vol. 265, No. 10 (1997): 46-50.
Khakpour, Porochista. “Dreams and Work: On Light Years”. The Paris Review. 6 Apr 2011. 6 May 2014 <http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/04/06/dreams-and-work-on-light-years/>.
Lahiri, Jhumpa. “Spellbound”. The Paris Review. 5 April 2011. 6 May 2014 <http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/04/05/spellbound/>.
Meek, James."Memories We Get to Keep". London Review of Books Vol. 35, No. 12 (20 June 2013). 7 May 2014 <http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n12/james-meek/memories-we-get-to-keep>.
Meyers, Jeffrey. "Salter's Gift." Kenyon Review Vol. 30, No. 2 (2008): 92-111.
Paumgarten, Nick. "The Last Book." New Yorker Vol. 89, No .9 (2013): 42-51.
Vernon, Alex. Soldiers Once and Still: Ernest Hemingway, James Salter & Tim O'Brien. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2004.