The Power of Memory in the Creation of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: when Transplanted Biographical Details Become Fictionalized
AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies, Volume 4, Number2. May 2020 Pp. 157-166
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol4no2.12
The Power of Memory in the Creation of Wuthering Heights by
Emily Brontë: when Transplanted Biographical Details Become Fictionalized
LAYADI (née MOUFFAK) Khadidja
M.C.A. Department of English
Faculty of Foreign Languages
University of Oran 2 Mohamed Ben Ahmed, Algeria
Abstract:
The role of memory in the imagination and the creation of the art of writing is paramount. The present paper is an attempt to argue that although novels are fictional works, they mirror a great deal of subjectivity; unconsciously, writers implicitly put ahead of their events. Hence, they directly extract from their life story. Moreover, they have been conditioned by their previous works as well as others’ books. In this paper, the researcher will select some passages from Wuthering Heights (1847) expressing the recollections of the past, which move Emily Brontë (1818-1848) to write her unique novel, where her imagination with its expansive power can “deploy boundless perspectives.” The entire plot is set within a story which reflects the unfair decisions that destroy the beautiful meaning of people’s life. Besides, some vivid autobiographical elements have been transplanted from her family and her homeland to permeate the atmosphere of Wuthering Heights; they also accounted for the stigmas left in her mind and echoed in Wuthering Heights. Therefore, the researcher focused on these crucial details, added to the atmosphere of Emily’s whole life, which are probably the most critical significance of this analysis. In this respect, the results of this study will perhaps give birth to further researches about the influence of one’s memory on their works.
Keywords: background influence, Emily Brontë, imagination vs. reality, memory, Wuthering Heights, Yorkshire Moors
Cite as: Mouffak, K. L. (2020). The Power of Memory in the Creation of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë: when Transplanted Biographical Details Become Fictionalized. Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies 4 (2) 157-166.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol4no2.12
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