THE AESTHETICS AND IDEOLOGY OF THE IMAGE OF THE MOON IN SAMANTHA HARVEY’S ORBITAL: A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

The article examines the aesthetic and ideological dimensions of the image of the Moon in the novel Orbital by Samantha Harvey. As the literary merits of the novel were acknowledged, its political aspects did not pass unnoticed, with the book’s reception being significantly different in the Anglophone and Ukrainian reading circles. This study employs the methodology of critical stylistics, developed by Lesley Jeffries, to examine the poetics and politics of the Moon in the Orbital. In particular, the analysis is directed towards disclosing how such textual-conceptual functions as naming and describing, representing actions/events/states, equating and contrasting, negating, and presenting others’ speech and thoughts are used in the novel to both create an aesthetically appealing image of the Moon and represent particular ideologies connected with the Moon, whether placing them into a critical perspective or not. The analysis revealed that the aesthetic dimension of the image of the Moon in Orbital includes several perspectives from which the Moon is described as looked at from the space and from the Earth, the latter consisting of the “earthed” and the “sky-bound” points of view. The aesthetic representation of the Moon is harmonised with the description of the people’s attitudes to it, as a more contemplative approach correlates with the image of the Moon as unthreatening and a more proactive approach is reciprocated with a more active role of the Moon. The ideological dimension of the image of the Moon in the novel comprises two different ideologies: Russian expansionism and space ambitions and aspirations for exploration with the aim of gaining new knowledge and achieving accomplishments. The article concludes by applying Uilleam Blacker’s appeal to approach literature in full awareness and acceptance of the responsibility of reading to interpreting Orbital and thus calls for not shying away from questioning the problematic ideology represented in the novel.