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How Has Regeneration Enabled Pat Barker To Enter The English Literary Canon

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Westman asserts that ‘Regeneration’ has enabled Pat Barker to enter the English literary canon. The English literary canon is a group of texts that are considered to be ‘valuable’ , ‘universal’ and timeless’ Whilst the exact nature of the canon has been continually debated by critics and authors, there are a number of criteria which are generally agreed on as giving a book the literary status associated with the canon. These include ‘complexity and unity’ of plot, structure, language and ideas. In addition, the reception that a literary text receives can be used to determine the value and status of a text.and the ‘Regeneration’ trilogy has won the Guardian Fiction Prize, Northern Electric Special Arts Prize, Booksellers' Association Author of the Year Award. Barker has as a result been awarded the CBE. Had her novel not been worthy of the canon, could she really have won all these awards?
The complexity and unity of the plot and structure of ‘Regeneration’ are revealed from the onset of the novel. ‘Regeneration’ is a central metaphor that is repeated throughout. Although the obvious content of the novel is about brutalised soldiers regenerating back to their previous …show more content…

The lineage of gentlemen has vanished and these men who were once worlds apart have all succumbed to similar fates but with individual stories to tell. Barker says “regeneration is never complete”. However the journey to this change faces much questioning. The returning soldiers are puzzled of the changes in the country: whilst in the muddy trenches fighting and reduced to vulnerability by the control of their superiors, unsuspectingly their homes are being refurbished. Women have been given more opportunities and hold the jobs the men once did, their financial stability has also meant that their attitudes have changed (illustrated in Sarah Lumb’s character). Prior notices this

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