RE-SHAPING AND RE-IMAGINING THE IMAGINATION : A STUDY OF ANGELA CARTER AS INVESTIGATOR OF SOCIAL FICTION

Abstract

This thesis discusses Angela Carter's investigation of what she terms "social fictions" in the light of her treatment of received notions of family and her use of this critique of the notion of family as a critique of sexual relations. The discussion of Carter's methodology is based on a consideration of the relationship between the signifier and the signified as proposed in the Saussurian semiological system modified by Roland Barthes. In examining her methods of investigation, her use of literary forms such as myths and fairy tales in this process will be discussed. In addition, her use of elements of the fantastic and carnival as devices to introduce multiple meaning will be examined. The thesis will conclude with an evaluation of the effect of these devices on the overall message of Carter's writing.