“Ali Smith and the Seasonal Quartet : encounters with art” : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

Abstract

Scottish writer Ali Smith’s tetralogy, Autumn (2016), Winter (2017), Summer (2019) and Spring (2020), known collectively as the Seasonal Quartet, is replete with descriptions of encounters with visual artworks and artists. The novels portray emotive responses to art that flow across a spectrum of bodily, affective, emotive and, finally, cerebral responses. The encounters generate feelings of awe, shock, transformation and enlightenment, which subsequently effect change in the characters experiencing them and create space for seeing and thinking anew. I argue that in the novels Smith emphasises affective-led understanding that fosters movement between bodily response, emotive engagement and intellectual analysis. In this thesis I claim that Smith encourages readers to see the effect that encounters with art have on her characters and encourages a similar response in readers to their engaged interpretation of her literary art. In this way, readers are invited to share with characters the experience of flexible, imaginative thinking that prioritises emotive connection before the interpretation of meaning. Furthermore, I argue that the encounters with art experienced by readers, via ekphrasis and description of character response, stimulate thinking about contemporary social, political and ethical issues. The novels further function to investigate the form and materiality of both Smith’s own work and that of other art forms and artworks. I suggest that the creative encounters within the Quartet spill out of the narrative due to Smith’s abundant bridging of image and text and the paratextual and metatextual mingling of the (character’s) intradiegetic and (reader’s) interpretative worlds. The critical approaches that I adopt in this thesis place an emphasis upon engagement and connection with ‘art’ (in many forms) rather than focusing primarily on interpretive ‘meaning.’ I examine the tenets of postcritique, such as acknowledging the breadth of our attachments and affinities, while being present, open and charitable to our experiences with artworks. In addition, I discuss theories around ekphrasis as a simple act of translation, from visual into verbal representation, but also as a rich band of divergent ideas that expand dialogue about hermeneutics, art historical discourse, and political, social and cultural ideologies. I also engage with reader-response theory v based on my understanding that any discussion about aesthetic encounter and experience must acknowledge the co-creative participation of the responder. Combining these critical filters has allowed me to consider the encounters portrayed in the novels from both emotive and analytical standpoints, encompassing both ‘feeling’ and interpretive ’critique.’ It is my belief that this approach of entanglement between positions of affinity, shock, wonderment, philosophy, ideology, ethics and politics, reflects the complex way of encountering art itself. This thesis combines a critical and creative approach, to honour postcritical ideas around imaginative, flexible thinking and to reflect the Quartet’s own sense of border crossing. Due to the wealth of visual art references within the Seasonal Quartet l centre my narrative around the idea of a visual art exhibition compiled from the artworks and associated ephemera described within the tetralogy. I explore the fields of postcritique, ekphrasis and reader-response, via the employment of an earnest curator, assembling an exhibition on the ‘encounters with art’ portrayed within the Quartet. The curator, in conversation with her peers, models both a sensitive response to artworks and an expert, academic overview, and provides a flexible vehicle to explore both critical analysis as well as the act of being ‘hooked.’