Narrative landscapes: time and memory in the fiction of J.G Ballard

Abstract

J.G. Ballard's writing (1930-2009) opens up to a set of discussions that are fundamental to the fields of Anthropology and Literature. Considered one of the great names in English literature, the author divides himself between the genres of autobiographical writing and science fiction. In this article, I analyze a diverse set of works that are connected by what was called narrative landscape, a concept inspired by the theories of anthropologist Tim Ingold (2015). The detailed analysis of the works, the author's historical and personal context brings up discussions regarding memory, trauma and modernity, giving rise to a mapping of the main issues of Western civilization in the second half of the 20th century. The objectives are to produce, through fictional narratives, images and readings of the social world, taking literary work as an element in constant relationship with it. It is concluded that ballardian fictions are experiments with the social and individual dimensions of memory, observing the critical reading about the post-war period and the side effects of the bourgeois project of capitalist civilization.