Dmitrii A. Chugunov, DSc in Philology, Professor of the Department of History and Typology of Russian and Foreign Literature, Voronezh State University, Universitetskaya Square, 1, 394018, Voronezh, Russia. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6368-3628
A common place in literary criticism has become an indication of the inclusion of William Golding’s novel-parable Lord of the Flies (1954) in the long-standing literary tradition of “robinsonade”. The novel Coral Island (1857) by Robert Ballantyne is unanimously called as its literary predecessor. Such a judgment is based on a biographical fact – the expressed desire of Golding to write Coral Island “on the contrary”, as well as on the coincidence of the names of the main characters – Ralph and Jack. In addition, the work of Ballantyne is mentioned twice in Lord of the Flies. However, a similar judgment about the novel by Golding is superficial, and the establishment of a genetic link between the works is erroneous. A comparative analysis shows the great closeness of Lord of the Flies to another famous novel of the 19 th century, which came from the pen of Jules Verne. It was Two years of vacation by Verne (1888) that formed the basis of Lord of the Flies both in the field of artistic and ideological design, and in defining the conflict, in building a system of characters, in saturating the plot with completely de- finite motives. It is significant that Golding considered his debut novel too amateurish, and the juxtaposition of Lord of the Flies with the novel by Verne reveals the reason for this discontent.
William Golding; Jules Verne; “Lord of the Flies”; “Two years of vacation”; literary connections; the tradition of “robinsonade”.
04.06.2024
18.07.2024
Chugunov, D.A. “William Golding and Robert Ballantyne: about One Well-established Mistake”. Literaturovedcheskii zhurnal, no. 4(66), 2024, pp. 187–202. (In Russ.)
1. Ballantain, R. Korallovyi ostrov [Coral Island]. Available at: http://az.lib.ru/b/ballantajn_r/text_1857_the_coral_island.shtml?ysclid=lvm7o62wpd250396433 (date of access: 30.04.2024). (In Russ.)
2. Vern, J. Dva goda kanikul [Two Years of Vacation]. Moscow, EHNAS-KNIGA Publ., 2021, 304 p. (In Russ.)
3. Golding, U. Povelitel’ mukh. Chrezvychainyi posol [Lord of the Flies. Envoy Extraordinary]; Merdok, A. Chernyi prints [The Black Prince]. Moscow, NF “Pushkinskaya biblioteka” Publ., OOO “Izdatel’stvo AST” Publ., 2003, 713 p. (In Russ.)
4. Gudakova, E.V., Zinov’eva, T.A. “Osobennosti sistemy personazhei v filosofskom romane U. Goldinga Povelitel’ much” [“Features of the Character System in W. Golding’s Philosophical Novel Lord of the Flies”]. Novoe slovo v nauke i praktike: gipotezy i aprobatsiya rezul’tatov issledovanii, no. 12, 2014, pp. 42–47.
(In Russ.)
5. Efimova, D.A. Bibleiskie motivy i obrazy v romanakh U. Goldinga “Povelitel’ much” i “Shpil’” [Biblical Motifs and Images in W. Golding’s Novels “Lord of the Flies” and “The Spire”]: author’s abstract of PhD in Philology diss. St Peterburg, 2009, 20 p. (In Russ.)
6. Kaplan, V. “Kogda prosypaetsya zver’: o romane Uil’yama Goldinga Povelitel’ much” [“When the Beast Wakes up: about William Golding’s Novel Lord of the Flies”]. Foma, June 26, 2018. Available at: https://foma.ru/kogda-prosyipaetsyazver-o-romane-uilyama-goldinga-povelitel-muh.html#:~:text=Sobstvenno%2C%20 samo%20nazvanie%20romana%2C%20«Povelitel',temnoe%2C%20zverinoe%20 nachalo%20chelovecheskoi%20prirody (date of access: 03.05.2024). (In Russ.)
7. Kiprina, S.V. “Razvitie temy detstva v angliiskoi literature vtoroi poloviny XX veka” [“The Development of the Theme of Childhood in English Literature of the Second Half of the 20 th Century”]. Vestnik KGPU im. V.P. Astaf’eva, no. 1, 2011, pp. 153–158. (In Russ.)
8. Nabilkina, L.N., Kubanev, N.A. “Motiv protivostoyaniya dobra i zla v angliiskoi i russkoi literature” [“The Motive of the Confrontation between Good and Evil in English and Russian Literature”]. Voprosy russkoi literatury, no. 3, 2019, pp. 46–52. (In Russ.)
9. Roginskaya, O. “Zhan-Zhak rekomenduet, ili kak roman Robinzon Kruzo stal knigoi dlya detei” [“Jean-Jacques Recommends, or How the Novel Robinson Crusoe Became a Book for Children”]. Filosofsko-literaturnyi zhurnal “Logos”, no. 6, 2013, pp. 97–114. (In Russ.)
10. Samartseva, O.V. “Poslevoennyi krizis gumanizma i roman U. Goldinga Povelitel’ much” [“The Post-war Crisis of Humanism and W. Golding’s Novel Lord of the Flies”]. Kul’tura i tekst, no. 4, 1998, pp. 207–213. (In Russ.)
11. Temirbulatova, K.M. “Filosofskaya pritcha Vil’yama Dzheral’da Goldinga Povelitel’ much” [“William Gerald Golding’s Philosophical Parable Lord of the Flies”]. Vestnik RUDN. Seriya: Literaturovedenie, zhurnalistika, no. 1, 2010, pp. 5–10. (In Russ.)
12. Uil’yam Golding: issledovatel’ temnykh storon prirody cheloveka [William Golding: a Researcher into the Dark Side of Human Nature]. September 19, 2023. Available at: https://ast.ru/news/uilyam-golding-issledovatel-temnykh-storonyprirody-cheloveka/?ysclid=lvm7qg9ddg247666984 (date of access: 04.05.2024). (In Russ.)
13. Chameev, A.A. “Dva mastera angliiskoi intellektual’noi prozy” [“Two Masters of English Intellectual Prose”]. Golding, U. Povelitel’ mukh. Chrezvychainyi posol [Lord of the Flies. Envoy Extraordinary]; Merdok, A. Chernyi prints [The Black Prince]. Moscow, NF “Pushkinskaya biblioteka” Publ., OOO “Izdatel’stvo AST” Publ., 2003, pp. 5–20. (In Russ.)
14. Law, A. “Of Navies and Navels: Britain as a Mental Island”. Geografiska Annaler. Ser. B, Human Geography, vol. 87, no. 4, 2006, pp. 267–277. (In English) DOI: https://doi.org/ 10.1111/j.0435-3684.2005.00198.x
15. Presley, N. “Lord of the Flies and The Coral Island”. William Golding: [Internet resource]. June 30, 2017. Available at: https://william-golding.co.uk/lord-fliescoral-island (date of access: 30.04.2024). (In English)