engleski

The (Im)Possibility of Academic Integrity in John Williams’s "Stoner"

The recently re-discovered John Williams’s campus novel Stoner depicts situations from academic life, overtly reveals the layers of university politics, and depicts different kinds of professors and their students, but does this in a way that is not fully in line with the conventions of the campus novel genre. In fact, the paper argues that, through fictional representation of various types of teachers, the novel foreshadows future (current) changes in the academia caused by the change in policies and politics. The characters are divided along the strict line that separates the traditional approach to the humanistic thought, as a means to pursue meaning, virtue, and beauty throughout their life and career, from those who represent the “new” university of cut-throat business politics and intrigues, whose disciples take advantage of the situation by masquerading pretentiousness and nepotism as knowledge. The novel questions the notion that university can serve either as a means to personal growth or material success and economic stability. For some, university is a shelter for those who otherwise would not be able to survive or succeed in the outer world, that is society. However, the lives and behavior of the faculty and the students at the fictional English Department depicted in the novel testify to the fact that the society influences academic life, and vice versa, and that university is not an isolated entity that can continue to function irrespective of the changes in economy and politics. The paper additionally argues that Stoner can be seen as a contemporary tragic hero in light of current controversies regarding academic integrity, the perception of academics, and the relevance of academic work.

John Williams, Stoner, campus novel, tragic hero, university politics, academic integrity

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