Читать книгу Side-Stepping Normativity in Selected Short Stories by Sylvia Townsend Warner - Rebecca K. Hahn - Страница 14

Warner’s aim to distance herself from the characters in her stories is most evident in the short story “Bruno” which was first published in 1971 in the collection of short stories The Innocent and the Guilty after having been rejected by The New Yorker. In a letter to Maxwell Warner explains her reason for her detachment:

As you may have noticed, I tend to make pets of my characters. This can be engaging, because readers feel a creative petfulness too. But it was becoming a habit, so in this last story [‘Bruno’] I have been at the utmost pains to pet nobody. Impartiality requires space to move in. So this is quite a long one too. (Steinman 177)

The detachment Warner aims for is reflected in the way the narrator relates events; more often than not, the narrator refrains from giving the reader a full account of what is happening (this is precisely what Sturch, one of Warner’s earlier critics, finds fault with). “Bruno” tells the story of Gilbert, “Gibbie”, Brodie, a wealthy Scotsman in his sixties, and his nineteen-year old lover, Bruno Bonsella. The story is set in a remote Scottish estate Gibbie inherited from his mother, and which he is currently visiting with his young lover. During their visit to his estate, Gibbie’s cousin, Lilah, descends upon him with her 11-year-old grandson, Hector. Lilah has hopes of endearing Hector to Gibbie and making him a benefactor of Gibbie’s will. Hector’s visit, however, triggers off unforeseen consequences for Gibbie and Bruno resulting in a triangular relationship between Gibbie, Bruno, and Hector.

At first sight, “Bruno” seems to be a straightforward story. As mentioned in the introduction, however, Warner’s stories often contain elements that at first elude and then surprise the reader. “Bruno” is a perfect example of this. While certain elements of the story are very clear, others remain vague. It is clear, for example, that “Bruno” revolves around non-heteronormative acts and desires and is unquestionably queer in a non-heterosexual sense. It further revolves around a deviant, uncontained body, suggesting a critique of bourgeois body ideals. In this, it is queer in a more political, anti-capitalist sense. The story, however, also contains elements that remain ambiguous; for example, a walled kitchen garden that is presented as a site of secrecy and knowledge. Readers never fully learn what actually takes place behind its walls and are left to guess whether Bruno and Hector became intimate with one another in the garden. By analysing these different aspects of “Bruno”, I intend to show that the story goes beyond what is considered to be nonnormative. That is, besides devising characters and situations that deviate from what is commonly considered “normal”, or rather, the norm, Warner creates circumstances in which established rules and explanations become meaningless. In this, the so-called norm is neither defied nor confirmed.