"You Can't Get by Without the Dream": Belief in Julian Barnes's A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters

This paper presents a less examined dimension of Barnes’s writings, which is the dominant role that belief plays in the development of his characters in A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters. The main argument of my essay is whether love can be considered as the most significant proposition of the novel. A content-based analysis of the novel’s “The Survivor” chapter demonstrates Barnes’ sceptic attitude towards postmodern rationalism, while the examination of "Parenthesis" and "Dream" chapter shows that hope, which becomes synonymous with belief in the novel, is actually the most permeating phenomenon in the novel.