Oranges aren't the only fruit
Oranges are not the only fruit (original title Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit ) is the first novel by the British writer Jeanette Winterson , which was published in Great Britain in 1985 and for which she received the Whitbread First Novel Award . Brigitte Waltzeck's translation was published by S. Fischer Verlag in 1993.
The strongly autobiographical novel tells of the growing up of an adopted girl whose adoptive family belongs to an English Pentecostal church . The girl feels strongly drawn to women from the start and an openly lesbian relationship leads to a break with the family and the previous social environment. The novel is occasionally classified as a lesbian novel, a classification that Jeanette Winterson contradicts: The fact that the protagonist is a lesbian does not mean that the novel is of specific interest only to homosexual people. The British literary critic John Mullan has classified it as a typical artist novel. Jeanette Winterson raised the subject of her adolescence a second time in her memoir Why Happy Instead of Just Normal? treated.
The novel is now considered a 20th century classic. In Great Britain it is part of the school reading and in 2015 82 international literary critics and scholars voted the novel one of the most important British novels .
action
The action begins when Jeanette, the protagonist of the novel, is seven years old. Her adoptive family belongs to the Elim Pentecostal Church , a British religious community that is part of the Pentecostal movement . Her mother in particular hopes that one day Jeanette will become a missionary. The life of the family is characterized by the fulfillment of religious duties - the mother already reads aloud from the Bible at breakfast and the Bible is also the text with which she initially teaches her mother to read at home. Jeanette is only sent to school when the English authorities send an unequivocal request for the girl to start school. It is your first contact with people who do not belong to your religious community. Jeanette is also an outsider at school: she not only attracts attention because of her different clothes and her limited living conditions, but also preaches to her classmates about the end of the world and the damnation that awaits her. Her school projects prefer a Bible text as the motto and her school essays are preferably about proselytizing.
Jeanette briefly loses her hearing at the age of seven - a sign of her exaltation for the religious community. Only when Miss Jewsbury, who also belongs to the community, realizes that Jeanette is sick, she is treated in the hospital. Her illness brings her closer to Elsie, another parishioner, who for the first time familiarizes her more intensively with a life that is outside the biblical context. The growing Jeanette begins to have increasing problems with the doctrines of her church. The love affair with Melanie, in which reading the Bible together leads to the first sexual togetherness, ends with her and Melanie being publicly accused in their church. While Melanie immediately repents, Jeanette resists the condemnation of her love for another woman. Jeanette flees and finds acceptance with Miss Jewsbury, who seduces her at night. The next day, the elders try to drive out her demons in an exorcism ritual by laying their hands on her for 14 hours. However, Jeanette only shows public remorse when her adoptive mother locks her up for 36 hours without food, but inwardly she is convinced that her love for Melanie was not a sin.
Jeanette is back in the bosom of her church - she preaches occasionally and gives regular Bible studies. This ends when she begins a relationship with Katy, a new member of the ward. The relationship results in Jeanette being banned from both preaching and teaching. She is also accused of trying to act like a man. Jeanette then breaks with her church and is then expelled from her family. She lives from casual work, but visits her mother several years later, who is still deeply religious. The two do not discuss Jeanette's way of life, but the behavior of the adoptive mother suggests that she is now more tolerant of Jeanette's life.
Adaptations
- In 1990 the BBC aired a TV mini-series based on the novel, which Jeanette Winterson also wrote the script for. The main roles were played by Charlotte Coleman and Geraldine McEwan . The series won the 1991 Special Prize for Fiction of the Prix Italia . The series was shown on German-speaking television in 1993.
- BBC Audiobooks also released the novel as an audio book in 1990. It was also read by Charlotte Coleman.
expenditure
- Oranges are not the only fruit, by Brigitte Walitzek; S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1993. ISBN 3-10-092211-5
Single receipts
- ↑ Interview on Jeanette Winterson's homepage , accessed on January 31, 2016
- ↑ John Mullan on Oranges are not the only fruit in the Guardian, October 20, 2007 , accessed January 31, 2016
- ^ The Guardian: The best British novel of all times - have international critics found it? , accessed January 31, 2016
- ↑ Prix Italia, Winners 1949 - 2010, RAI ( Memento of the original from October 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
