 | Listening to Iris Murdoch : Music, Sounds, and Silences When we think of Iris Murdoch's relationship with art forms, the visual arts come most readily to mind. However, music and other sounds are equally important. Soundscapes - music and other types of sound - contribute to the richly textured atmosphere and moral tenor of Murdoch's novels. This book will help readers to appreciate anew the sensuous nature of Iris Murdoch's prose, and to listen for all kinds of music, sounds and silences in her novels, opening up a new sub-field in Murdoch studies in line with the emerging field of Word and Music Studies. This study is supported by close readings of selected novels exemplifying the subtle variety of ways she deploys music, sounds and silence in her fiction. It also covers Murdoch's knowledge of music and her allusions to music throughout her work, and includes a survey of musical settings of her words by various composers.Gillian Dooley is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University, South Australia. She has written extensively on various literary topics, often in connection with music. Her publications include From a Tiny Corner of the House of Fiction: Conversations with Iris Murdoch (2003) and other edited works on Murdoch, as well as monographs on V.S. Naipaul and J.M. Coetzee. |
