Articulating fiction, theory and criticism in Ian McEwan’ssweet tooth

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the activation of discourses from the disciplines of literary theory and criticism in Sweet Tooth, a novel written by English author Ian McEwan. Four strategies will be examined: i. theorization of metafiction; ii. theorizations regarding literature in general; iii. exposition of the techniques used in the construction of the narrative; iv. critical commentaries about other writers and other literary texts. The intertwinement of discourses works as a form of literary literacy, developed by the novel itself, in order to form more reflexive readers in relation to literature and to literary theory and criticism.