Flaubert's Parrot

Style and Technique

In "Flaubert's Parrot," Julian Barnes employs a unique style that combines elements of biography, essay, and fiction. The language of the work is rich and layered, with frequent references to literary and historical contexts. Barnes masterfully uses irony and sarcasm to highlight the paradoxes of Gustave Flaubert's life and work. The structure of the book is fragmented and resembles a mosaic, where each chapter represents a separate aspect of Flaubert's life and work, as well as the narrator's reflections on these aspects. Literary techniques include intertextuality, metafiction, and a play with fact and fiction, creating a multi-layered perception of the text and prompting the reader to ponder the nature of the biographical genre and how we perceive history and literature.