“I miei libri sono i miei figli:” Self-Reflexivity in Richard Powers’ Galatea 2.2, an Academic Novel
“I miei libri sono i miei figli:” Self-Reflexivity in Richard Powers’ Galatea 2.2, an Academic Novel

Summary/Abstract: Richard Powers, the protagonist and narrator of the academic novel titled Galatea 2.2 and penned by a real Richard Powers, accepts a university appointment as a writer-in-residence. In addition, he becomes involved in an unrealistic research project to teach a computer program how to interpret literary works. Galatea 2.2 manifests self-reflexivity at the level of style, characterization, and theme. It abounds in various representations of the processes of writing, reading, and teaching. This essay aims to highlight the selfabsorption particular to academic fiction and to argue that academic fiction is not to literature what selfie is to Facebook, a shameless self-promotion. Such fiction is oftentimes viewed as an exercise of the ego, a narcissistic activity, but I would like to propose to treat it as a form of narrative introversion and self-analysis on the path to self-discovery when it comes to the community of scholars and writers.

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