A Bruise upon a Bruise: Forms and Traces of Violence in Graham Swift’s 'Out of This World' and 'Waterland'

Abstract

While lacking the physical explicitness of other contemporary British novels, Graham Swift’s texts are at least of equal interest in terms of the attention paid to the numerous face(t)s of violence, as well as to the deep if not always detectable marks imprinted on the victims. The centrality of the terrorist bomb attack to the plot of Out of This World singles out Swift’s fourth novel for special attention as regards the idea of violence and even a superficial reading yields ample material, from the historical background of war and the detailed presentation of major campaigns of the twentieth century to the personal history of its protagonists. This paper aims to trace the different reactions to and manifestations of violence across three generations, then focus on the frequent philosophical disquisitions on the main topic of the text, before moving on to Waterland and its intricate palimpsest of bruises upon bruises, hissing guillotines, revenge, murder, suicide, madness and guilt.