Circulation of Capital in Great Expectations

Scientific paper - Original scientific paper

• Title (croatian): Cirkulacija kapitala u Velikim očekivanjima
• Author: Borislav Knežević
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; (Department of English language and literature)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: HUMANISTIC SCIENCES; Philology; Anglistics

Abstract (english)

The article discusses the theme of acquisition and circulation of capital in Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations. The analysis proceeds from an observation that the novel is not centrally concerned with representing the processes of production of wealth, as it is about the circulation of social and economic capital. The protagonist of the novel entertains a specific notion of social mobility (his great expectations), which he eventually renounces, and develops a common middle-class idea of the centrality of hard work to the accumulation of wealth. However, by examining the construction of the protagonist’s relationship to wealth, as well as the construction of the circulation of wealth in the narrative, the article suggests that the novel questions its declarative ideology by placing a great deal of emphasis on the various ways in which transfers of money enable the creation of social and economic capital for the characters in the novel.

Abstract (croatian)

Članak razmatra temu stjecanja bogatstva i raspolaganja bogatstvom u romanu Velika očekivanja Charlesa Dickensa. Analiza je utemeljena na gledištu da roman nije primarno usredotočen na prikazivanje procesa proizvodnje bogatstva, već na cirkulaciju društvenog i ekonomskog kapitala. Protagonist romana slijedi određenu predodžbu o društvenoj mobilnosti (svoja velika očekivanja), koju naposljetku odbacuje te usvaja uobičajeno poimanje srednje klase o središnjoj važnosti napornog rada za stjecanje bogatstva. Međutim, razmatranjem narativnog oblikovanja odnosa protagonista i bogatstva, te narativnog oblikovanja cirkulacije bogatstva, članak nastoji pokazati da roman preispituje svoju deklariranu ideologiju stavljanjem naglaska na različite oblike transferiranja novca koji omogućuju likovima stjecanje društvenog i ekonomskog kapitala.

• Keywords (english): Charles Dickens; middle class; capital; work; British Empire
• Keywords (croatian): Charles Dickens; srednja klasa; kapital; rad; Britansko Carstvo
• Language: english
• Publication type: Scientific paper - Original scientific paper
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review
• Publication version: Published version
• Journal title: Studia Romanica et Anglica Zagrabiensia : Revue publiée par les Sections romane, italienne et anglaise de la Faculté des Lettres de l’Université de Zagreb
• Numbering: vol. 64, pp. 71-99
• p-ISSN: 0039-3339
• e-ISSN: 1849-1421
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17234/SRAZ.64.5
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:131:506631
• Publication: 2019
• Document URL: https://hrcak.srce.hr/241482
• Type of resource: Text
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2020-07-23 14:23:20