Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Ali Smith’s series of novels, known as the Seasonal Quartet (2016–2020), has received significant academic acclaim for its exposure of political lies, post-truth mindsets, and the xenophobic sentiments of the Brexit Leave campaign. Nonetheless, there has been minimal focus on the specific mechanisms that allow institutions of power to construct a divisive narrative of political, social, and immigration instability. The third novel in the series, Spring (2019), distinguishes itself by scrutinizing the anti-immigrant rhetoric within the post-Brexit UK political environment. In Spring, language is politically manipulated to become a tool for various forms of propaganda and dehumanization. This propagandistic language use revealed in the novel fosters demagoguery and marginalization of immigrant groups in the post-Brexit UK. The inhumane treatment of immigrants in detention centres results from this dehumanization, stripping both detainees and employees of their subjectivity and agency. Ultimately, Spring presents a counter to the politicized abuse of language by emphasizing its potential to tell stories, unite people, and amplify the voices of those victimized by political discourse.
Author: Angelina Likhovid
Institution: University of Debrecen
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7128700192