A narratological analysis of D. M. Thoma`s: the white hotel (1981)

“A Narratological Analysis of D. M. Thomas’s The White Hotel (1981)” originated within a seminar on British Postmodernist Literature during the first Master’s Degree in “British and North-American Culture and Literature” (2001-04) at the Universidade da Madeira set up by the Department of English and German Studies. This dissertation seeks to present a narratological analysis of Thomas’s novel. The White Hotel stands as a paradigmatic example of the kind of literature that has dominated the British literary scene in the past three decades, commonly referred to as postmodernist fiction, owing to its formal craftsmanship (multiplicity of narrative voices and perspectives, mixing of differing genres and text types, inclusion of embedded narratives) alongside the handling of what are deemed as postmodernist topoi (the distinction between truth and lies, history and fantasy, fact and fiction, the questioning of the nature of aesthetic representation, the role the author and the reader hold in the narrative process, the instability of the linguistic sign, the notion of originality and the moral responsibility the author has towards his/her work), The narratological approach carried out in this research reveals that Thomas’s text constitutes an aesthetic endeavour to challenge the teleological drive that is inherent in any narrative, i. e., the inevitable progression towards a reassuring end. Hence, the subversion of narrative telling, which is a recurrent feature in Thomas’s remaining literary output, mirrors the contemporary distrust in totalising, hierarchised and allencompassing narratives. In its handling of historical events, namely of the Holocaust, The White Hotel invites us to reassess the most profound beliefs we were taught to take for granted: progress, reality and truth. In their place the novel proposes a more flexible conception of both the world and art, especially of literary fiction. In other terms, the world appears as a brutal chaotic place the subject is forced to adjust to. Accordingly, the literary work is deemed hybrid, fragmented and open. So as to put forth the above-mentioned issues, this research work is structured in three main chapters. The initial chapter – “What is Postmodernism?” – advances a scrutiny not only of the seminal but also of more recent studies on postmodernist literary criticism. Following this, in Chapter II – “Postmodernist British Fiction” – a brief overview of postmodernist British fiction is carried out, focusing on the fictional works that, in my opinion, are fundamental for the periodising of British postmodernism. In addition, I felt the need to include a section – “D. M. Thomas as a Postmodernist Novelist” – in which the author’s remaining literary output is briefly examined. Finally, Chapter III – “A Narratological Analysis of The White Hotel” – proposes a narratological analysis of the novel according to the particular Genettian analytical model. To conclude, my dissertation constitutes an approach to D. M. Thomas’s The White Hotel as a text whose very existence is substantiated in the foregrounding of the contingency of all discourses, meeting the postmodernist precepts of openness and subversion of any narrative that claims to be true, globalising and all-inclusive.

Relatório de estágio sobre a intervenção pedagógica realizada na Escola Básica do 1º Ciclo com Pré-Escolar da Ajuda

O presente relatório de estágio foi realizado para a obtenção do grau de mestre em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Este tem como objetivo descrever todo o trabalho realizado no estágio do 2º ano do Mestrado. Aqui, serão descritas as práticas realizadas em contexto do Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico e Educação Pré-Escolar. De forma a complementar todo o trabalho desenvolvido, fazem parte as reflexões e as estratégias adotadas. Ambos os estágios foram realizados na escola EB1/PE da Ajuda. Não obstante, são peças integrantes deste relatório, o contexto educativo e as características das crianças com que tive o prazer de trabalhar. No trabalho realizado foram utilizados diferentes instrumentos, nomeadamente a observação participante, a recolha documental, as conversas informais e ainda o diário de campo. São ainda descritas as intervenções educativas realizadas com a comunidade educativa. Para finalizar, são apresentadas as reflexões finais de toda a intervenção educativa realizada em ambas as valências.