“When Matter Begins to Understand Itself”: Tracing Metamodernism in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials
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2025-02-10
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en
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This thesis aims to create thematic links between the emerging theoretical framework of metamodernism – the cultural epoch said to take place after postmodernism – and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials – a renowned trilogy of fantasy novels. Drawing primarily on what is now seen as the foundational text of metamodern scholarship, namely, “Notes on metamodernism” by Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker, the thesis seeks to broaden the preexisting, already elusive definitions of the field, while still anchoring metamodernism within the constant flux between modern and postmodern sentiments, structures of feeling. By examining how the novels rearticulate narratives of (post)modernity, the implicit metamodern ethos of the books, not anchored in stylistic choices, aesthetics, or chronotopes, emerges as an oscillation between the interior and exterior struggles of the trilogy.
Two chapters, each linked to a specific narrative structure that is of great importance in Pullman’s books, form the basis of this argument. The first chapter focuses on the absolutist religious myths of HDM, and the vehement opposition they encounter at the hands of deconstructing, free-thinking figures; the external part of the metamodern struggle, akin to the political and cultural battles of the past century. The second chapter shifts the attention to the internal growth of Pullman’s protagonists as they mature from children into young adults, a process of personal development that is as important to the metamodern oscillation as the bombastic, overtly visible parts of metamodernity. By supplementing the seminal “Notes on metamodernism” with writings that connect each of the themes with metamodernism, as well as texts linking the very same themes with the trilogy, the thesis applies critical discourse analysis to bridge the gap between previously unrelated lines of academic inquiry. Furthermore, as a way of buttressing the tripartite connection of metamodernism – His Dark Materials – religion & adolescence, the theoretical framework already draws direct parallels between the metaphysical makeup of Pullman’s diegesis and some of the most pivotal metamodern concepts; an approach that diffuses the rigid boundary between secondary literature and case study, inviting the reader to approach the entire thesis through a metamodern lens as if it were already there, and allowing for great detail in the reading of HDM in lieu of repetitive explanations of how the theoretical framework resurfaces in specific aspects within the novels.
Keywords: metamodernism, His Dark Materials, religion, adolescence, oscillation.
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