Among the most brilliant fictional works of the twentieth century, Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet is at once a culmination of modernist literature and an exploration of the conscious construction of truth and reality. Structured to reflect Einstein's relativity theory, the Alexandria Quartet is an intricate interweaving of linguistic resources. Using M. A. K. Halliday's systemic linguistic theory of text analysis, (Re)constructing Reality probes the inner workings of Durrell's masterpiece to bring us closer to an understanding of how meaning is created. In the process, this book provides insight into both the Alexandria Quartet itself, as well as into the linguistic nature of literary composition. Among the most brilliant fictional works of the twentieth century, Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet is at once a culmination of modernist literature and an exploration of the conscious construction of truth and reality. Structured to reflect Einstein's relativity theory, the Alexandria Quartet is an intricate interweaving of linguistic resources. Using M. A. K. Halliday's systemic linguistic theory of text analysis, (Re)constructing Reality probes the inner workings of Durrell's masterpiece to bring us closer to an understanding of how meaning is created. In the process, this book provides insight into both the Alexandria Quartet itself, as well as into the linguistic nature of literary composition. Foreword ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1(4) Durrell's View of Reality 5(28) Complexity of Reality 7(1) The Materialist View of Reality 8(1) Einstein's View 9(1) Durrealist Influences 10(12) Reality As Novel 22(4) Reality in the Four Books 26(4) Literary Criticism 30(3) Halliday and a Model of Language 33(16) Linguistics and Literature 33(3) Halliday's View of Language 36(1) The Hallidayan Model of Language 37(1) Systemic Functional Linguistics 38(2) Functional Components of Language 40(3) Functional Components in the Quartet 43(6) Method of Analysis 49(6) Data Base 49(2) Coding System 51(1) Analysis 51(2) Predictions 53(2) Analysis of Justine 55(12) The Beginning Passage 55(4) The Middle Passage 59(2) The Ending Passages 61(1) The Alternative Ending 61(2) The Ending 63(4) Analysis of Balthazar 67(12) The Beginning Passage 67(4) The Middle Passage 71(3) The Ending Passages 74(1) The Alternative Ending 75(2) The Ending 77(2) Analysis of Mountolive 79(10) The Beginning Passage 79(3) The Middle Passage 82(2) The Ending Passages 84(1) The Alternative Ending 84(2) The Ending 86(3) Analysis of Clea 89(14) The Beginning Passage 89(7) The Middle Passage 96(1) The Alternative Ending 97(2) The Ending 99(4) Summary of Findings 103(8) Justine 103(1) Balthazar 104(1) Mountolive 105(1) Clea 106(1) The Beginnings 107(1) The Middles 107(1) The Alternative Endings 108(1) The Endings 109(2) Conclusion 111(6) Two Separate Trends 111(2) What This Study Does Not Reveal 113(1) What This Study Does Reveal 114(1) Conclusion 115(2) Appendix 117(24) Works Cited 141