British author Graham Greene pursued a professional career as a journalist before becoming a full-time writer. After that, he continued taking on reporting assignments as a correspondent for a variety of publications. Greene knew the profession inside out, and the role of the media in shaping the public’s views through information gathering and dissemination—a topic insufficiently researched by criticism—was among his main concerns. Greene’s fictional work features an array of journalists, and the representation of (un)ethical practices of the profession is a constant reference in his narrative. In this book, I intend to fill this research gap in Greenean studies, focusing on three main topics: the author’s reflection on the journalistic practice in connection with the classic paradigm of objectivity versus empathy; his questioning of the misuse of power when gathering and disseminating information by journalists, editors and news corporation owners; and finally, the relationship between journalists and their readership’s expectations, as well as the importance of fostering critical readers that make informed trustworthy decisions regarding journalism performance.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1. Burnt-Out Reporters: Graham Greene and the industry of journalism
Chapter 2. “If one takes a side, one takes a side, come what may”: non-involvement vs. commitment in journalism
Chapter 3. “Media is just a word that has come to mean bad journalism”: (Un)ethical journalistic practices in gathering and disseminating information
Chapter 4. “Our public can’t wait. Hungry, you know, for its lion’s steak”: From news readers to information consumers
Chapter 5. “Literature is news that stays news”: Final remarks
List of references
Index
About the Author :
Beatriz Valverde holds a doctorate in English Philology from Universidad de Jaén. She also holds an MA in Spanish from Loyola University Chicago. Currently, she is Associate Professor in the Department of English Philology at Universidad de Jaén. Her main research interests are Theology and Literature, specifically in the work of Graham Greene; Journalism and Literature; and Literature and Cultural Studies in English and Spanish. On these topics, she has published extensively in international journals, such as Anglia, English Studies, European Journal of English Studies, and Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, among others. In 2020, she co-edited with Dr. Mark Bosco Reading Flannery O’Connor in Spain: Andalusia in Andalucía.
Review :
Graham Greene was one of the great novelists of the twentieth century. He was also one of its great journalists, but that aspect of his work has been seen primarily as background to the fiction. In a work of political, theoretical and cultural awareness, Beatriz Valverde forces us to expand our sense of Graham Greene’s involvement with journalism -- as a practicing journalist, as one who depicted journalists in his fiction and as one who reflected deeply on the ethics and the political impact of journalism.
-- Richard Greene, Professor of English, University of Toronto, Canada
This is a scholarly and ground-breaking examination of the journalist’s world in Greene’s fiction supported by an impressive range of academic theory. The author forensically examines the motives of the surprising number of leading and minor fictionalized journalist characters scattered throughout Greene’s fiction. Valverde’s comprehensive grasp of the news reporting world - ethical and unethical, biased and unbiased–innovatively reinterprets Greene’s fiction in terms of journalistic practice. She ably demonstrates how Greene uses his experience to highlight the tensions between detachment and involvement in the world of journalism.
-- Dr. Jon Wise, co-author of The Works of Graham Greene: A Guide to the Graham Greene Archives
An absorbing, scholarly and wide-ranging analysis which fills a gap in Greene studies. In an age of "fake news", it is also timely, examining the need for accurate, reliable and independent journalism. Should journalists be committed or uninvolved in the stories they report, and how should we consume the news they present to us? As a journalist, essayist, letter-writer and novelist, Graham Greene had much to say on these issues, and Beatriz Valverde expertly analyzes his contribution to this important debate. It is an impressive study.
--Mike Hill, co-author of The Works of Graham Greene: A Guide to the Graham Greene Archives
This thought-provoking book offers fascinating insights into the role of journalists, while showing the breadth and subtlety of Greene’s understanding of the profession. The research is thorough, the style engaging, and it fills a noticeable gap in Graham Greene studies. Some of his most famous characters are journalists, and yet there are others that have received little attention. Here we discover so many more—and learn so much more! This will be enjoyed both by Greene enthusiasts and those interested in the vital role of journalism then and now.
--Dr. Creina Mansfield
